Five men charged with vandalism

SINGAPORE - Five men were charged in court on Tuesday for allegedly spray-painting slogans like "We are one we are legion expect us", referring to the global hacktivist group Anonymous, along with "TSK", believed to be the logo of a heavy metal band.

Mohamad Fadzly Aziz, 21; Danial Ryan Salleh, 25; Muhammad Qamarul Arifin Sa'adon, 22; and Muhammad Fitri Abu Kasim, 24, had allegedly sprayed those words at about 4am last Tuesday, on the pavement outside Sunshine Plaza at 91 Prinsep Link.

Minutes later, the four suspects sprayed a similar slogan on a nearby pillar.

At both locations, the four men also sprayed the stylised words "TSK", believed to be a band logo, that they then repeated on the pavement of a taxi stand along Waterloo Street at 4.20am.

At about 5am, Mohamad Fadzly and a fifth accused, Muhammad Redzwan Baskin, 26, were suspected to have defaced a wall and pavement at the Scape building at 2 Orchard Link, with a slogan and the logo.

In court on Tuesday, the five took the stand one at a time as the charges were read to them.

Danial Ryan Salleh indicated through the court translator that he intended to engage a lawyer, and he was given leave by District Judge Kessler Soh to proceed.

The young men were all accompanied by family members, none of whom would speak to the media when approached.

The Straits Times understands that at least one of the suspects is serving his national service.

They were released on bail of $15,000 each and had their passports impounded.

For each charge of vandalism, the suspects face a mandatory punishment of at least three strokes of the cane.

The next mention for the case will be on Dec 10.

yanliang@sph.com.sg

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