Singapore court jails Filipino nurse for ‘inflammatory’ Facebook posts

Ello Bello
Singapore Court Gives 4 Month Jail Sentence to Filipino Nurse for Inflammatory Facebook Posts – photo courtesy of MediaCorp.com – www.plnmedia.com

A Singapore court has sentenced Ello Ed Mundsel Bello, a Filipino nurse who was in the news heavily after he posted inflammatory comments on his Facebook page about Singaporeans.

29-year-old Bello, a former employee of Tan Tock Seng Hospital, posted the insulting comments in January this year. Prosecutors in the case were seeking a total of five months.

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Bello originally posted that he wanted his fellow countrymen to take over Singapore. Police say the outrage from citizens led to an investigation into the Facebook post.

The Filipino was sentenced to three months along with a month added for lying to authorities.

“In a nation whose only resource are its people, we simply cannot afford to condone any act which poses a threat to our social stability and security,” the judge said.

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A lawyer for Bello said his client would not appeal the sentence and hoped to be back in the Philippines in time for Christmas. Bello is expected to be released early for good behaviour while serving his sentence.

Bello’s original post from January 2nd of this year said: “Singaporeans are loosers (sic) in their own country, we take their jobs, their future, their women and soon we will evict all SG loosers (sic) out of their own country hahaha.”

In a follow-up comment, Bello wrote: “we will kick out all the Singaporeans and SG will be the new Filipino state”.

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Bello originally told police his Facebook page was hacked, he later admitted making the post and subsequent comments.

Bello was facing up to three years in prison for sedition and up to one year for lying to police, however the judge said he was a first-time offender who eventually pleaded guilty to the crime.

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