Sentenced to 4 months in jail for defaming others on Facebook.

A Filipino nurse has been sentenced to four months in jail for making offensive and provocative comments about Singaporeans and lying to the police.

Ello Ed Mundsel Bello, 28, was charged with three counts last month, including incitement to riot and hate, and two counts of providing false information to police.

In a post on her personal Facebook page, Bello, a former nurse at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, called Singaporeans “failures in their own country.” “We have taken away their jobs, their futures, their women, and we will soon expel all these failed Singaporeans from this country,” Bello wrote, adding that Singapore would become a “new state of the Philippines.”

Ello Ed Mundsel Bello was sentenced to four months in prison for inciting Singaporeans. Source: Channel News Asia

He also claimed that he “prayed for disasters to strike Singaporeans and for many of their people to die” and that Bello would certainly “celebrate” if that happened. He later deleted the posts and lied to the police, claiming he hadn't written any comments, even fabricating a different, false story to provide them.

During the trial, Judge Siva Shanmugam argued that in the age of globalization and the prevalence of social media, people need to be reminded that "the internet is not a lawless space."

The judge concluded: “Bello exploited online anonymity to post rebellious and inflammatory content targeting Singaporeans.” His actions, Mr. Siva added, had the potential to damage relations between Singaporeans and Filipinos.

For the crime of disseminating information that incites racial or class infighting in Singapore, Bello could face a fine of S$5,000 or a prison sentence of up to three years, or both.

For providing false information to the police, Bello could face a one-year prison sentence and a S$5,000 fine.

According to Infonet