The Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday denied media reports that two senior citizens had been “caught”, “detained” or “arrested” for allegedly spreading rumours about the aftermath of Typhoon Hato on WeChat.
According to a PJ statement sent to the Portuguese-language radio channel of government-owned broadcaster TDM, the duo – a 73-year-old local resident and his 68-year-old sister – were merely “contacted” by the police who were gathering information about the alleged spreading of typhoon-related hearsay.
A PJ spokesperson on Monday had told reporters at a press conference that the elderly siblings had been “taken” to a police station “for questioning” earlier that day and later that day been “transferred” to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) for further investigation. The spokesperson also told the media that the suspects were facing imprisonment of up to six months or a fine.
Allegedly, the siblings spread the rumours through their WeChat group – including that five corpses had been found in a car park in Fai Chi Kei after the typhoon and that the authorities had blocked all information about the damage caused by Typhoon Hato.
