BREAKING: Exclusive interview with blogger “PothePanda” who claimed he was arrested & interrogated by police for a post he made on STOMP (Parts 1 & 2)
DISCIAMER: The video clips shown below contain an interview with blogger “PothePanda” aka Gary Tan Yeong Hong who claimed he was arrested and interrogated by the police for a post he made on STOMP. We are unable to prove or disprove the allegations made by him against the police. Please contact him at yangfengsg@hotmail.com if you have any queries. The owners of this blog will not be responsible for any misrepresentation or misinformation arising from the content of the interview to which the liability lies solely with the interviewee. Please exercise utmost caution and discretion when viewing the clips.
Prologue:
On 13th March 2009, a blogger with the moniker “PothePanda” who was also a regular forumer of STOMP and Hardwarezone posted a statement on his blog at Xanga alleging that he was arrested by the police on 2 March 2009 for an article about molotov cocktails posted on STOMP late last year.
“PothePanda”, whose real name is Gary Tan Yeong Hong, is a regular reader of our blog. On 2nd March 2009, we received an email from him seeking legal advice for his predicament. We referred him to a lawyer Mr Chia Ti Lik who was also a prominent human rights activist. Gary claimed he was told by one of his interrogating officers to post the “truth” about what happened on his blog which he did on 13 March 2009.
After obtaining legal clearance from Mr Chia Ti Lik, we decided to interview him to learn more about his experience. The 45 minute interview was conducted near Gary’s home in Hougang on 21 March 2009 by a freelancer engaged by us.
SUMMARY:
1. How Gary was arrested by four plain-clothes policemen at his home on 2 March 2009.
2. The content of the alleged post he made on STOMP who got him into trouble with the police.
3. How he was interrogated by four police officers at the Cantonment Police Complex.
4. The posts he made on STOMP and Hardwarezone during the last three to six months were traced by the police.
5. The statement he was asked to sign at the end of the interrogation.
PART 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0b6RJeRfLM
PART 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bYiC8esaqo
EXCERPTS OF INTERVIEW
wayangparty: Can you tell us in brief what happened on the day?
Gary: The four policemen showed up at about 11am on 2 March, a Monday at my place. They told me that they are investigating the case of a molotov cocktail post which I made on a forum. I was taking a bath then. They said I could choose to follow them back or they can handcuff me. They didn’t tell me the charge. I followed them back with my laptop.
wayangparty: Why did they arrest you for putting up the post?
Gary: They claimed that I instigated the old man to burn MP Seng Han Thong which was ridiculous because what I posted was taken from Wikipedia so let people to have some information pertaining to computer games and the post was made 3 weeks before the incident.
wayangparty: Where did you post the alleged article?
Gary: STOMP Talkback forum.
wayangparty: What is the content of the post?
Gary: Basically history of the item, its usage in other countries throughout the years. (Nothing was written on how it was made.)
wayangparty: Can you tell us more about your encounter?
Gary: First, they tried to nail me down on the molotov cocktail posting. My impression is that they did not take a look at the date of my posting, they thought I posted it after the MP incident, that’s why they arrested me, but once they realize it, they are blurred and don’t know what to do.
wayangparty: How many officers interrogate you?
Gary: Four of them. They tried to use the ‘carrot and stick’ or ‘good cop - bad cop’ method. Sebastian was leading the investigation for the first place. He said I was an intelligent guy and don’t wish to see him going in and out of jail when I can be a useful citizen of Singapore and if I confessed to whatever he wanted, he will help me to become a useful citizen of Singapore. It doesn’t sound right to me. If you have any evidence against me, you can come and charge me. Now you are saying even if I am not wrong, I should confess so that you can help me.
wayangparty: What did they want you to confess to?
Gary: They asked me if I participate in a conspiracy against the state of Singapore. Did I participate in terrorism activity? They did not show me any evidence. I told them I got nothing to confess and I rather they don’t help me. So after that, they tried another method. They continuously insulted me saying things like “You stay in a 3 room flat?It’s like a pig’s sty.” “You remind me of a donkey,of a mule.You are just an animal that needs to be shown who its master is.” “Some people say you can lead a donkey to water,but you can’t make it drink.Today I am here to force you to drink.” “You write rubbish,everything you say online is rubbish.”
wayangparty: Do you know where this Sebastian is from?
Gary: He did not mention and his pass was flipped backward, but I will let you know why I think he is from ISD later.
wayangparty: Is the police aware of what you have written on your blog?
Gary: I believe they have been tracking my blog and even my offline activities. They give me the impression they have been doing so. During the interrogation, they are able to quote that the content of my posts in the last 3 to 6 months. I post on STOMP Talkback forum and Hardwarezone forum.
wayangparty: What is the statement they asked you to sign?
Gary: My background, where I stay, everything else in the statement is basically my past background, all the mistakes I have committed in national service, what internet nicknames I used on the internet and the internet forums I go to.
More stunning revelations from Gary to be heard in Parts 3 and 4 of the interview tomorrow…..
APPENDICES
1. Official PothePanda statement posted on Xanga on 13 March 2009:
2. PothePanda posted on his blog verifying that we had conducted an interview with him on 21 March 2009:
Source: PoThePanda
http://wayangparty.com/?p=6797
http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=24865.3
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