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View of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore (symbol image)
Photo: ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP
In Singapore, a 40-year-old Briton was sentenced to six weeks in prison for not wearing a corona protective mask.
He then put up a massive defense against his arrest by the police.
This was confirmed by a court representative from the AFP news agency.
The man was arrested in May, according to media reports, after footage of him without a mask appeared on the Internet on a train.
When the police came to arrest him, he resisted. At the first court hearing he appeared again without a mask and vehemently opposed what he believed to be
"
ridiculous
"
proceedings. According to the local media, he was of the opinion that masks did not protect against infection with the coronavirus.
The judge first ordered a psychiatric examination.
After the appraiser declared the Briton fit for justice, he was convicted on Wednesday of violating the corona rules, resisting the police and public nuisance.
The verdict was dated July 19.
Since the 40-year-old had therefore already served two-thirds of the sentence, he was released after the verdict and is projected by the
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Straits Times
"
be deported.
Consistent action against corona violations
Singapore takes rigorous action against all types of violations.
Last year, a 40-year-old was sent to prison temporarily.
His offense: The taxi driver wrote in a Facebook group in April 2020 that because of the lockdown, shops would close and supermarkets would only open two days a week.
Although he deleted the post after 15 minutes, he had caused people to panic buying, a court found.
The result: four months imprisonment for disseminating false information (read here how corona violations are punished worldwide).
The Southeast Asian country is getting through the pandemic comparatively well.
After a temporary increase in new infections in July, the numbers have recently decreased significantly.
bam / AFP