Indian man gets 5 months in jail for charge related to riot in Singapore

An Indian man has been jailed for five months, making him the first to be convicted after claiming trial against charges related to their roles in a rare riot in Singapore in December last year, local media reported Tuesday.
Mahalingam Thavamani, 27, was found guilty of an amended charge of obstructing a public servant when the latter was endeavoring to disperse an unlawful assembly in the evening of Dec. 8 last year, the Straits Times said.
He was initially charged with rioting.
The man was also the first to be convicted of obstructing a public servant in relation to the rare riot that broke out among some 300 foreign workers following a fatal accident that killed an Indian worker in Little India, a neighborhood in Singapore known for its distinctive Indian culture and shops.
The riot in Little India left 39 police officers injured and 25 emergency vehicles damaged.
District Judge Salina Ishak on Monday accepted the testimony of prosecutors that Thavamani had refused to leave a road in the Little India area, and had insisted on moving into a restricted area in the same road even though he had been told to leave.
The court had heard during the trial held over April and last month that the accused's voice grew louder as he spoke to the police officer.
The judge also accepted the prosecutors' testimony that Thavamani had not provided any reason for entering the road, rejecting his testimony that he had not obstructed the police but had simply been pleading with them about his younger brother, whom he claimed had gone missing in the chaos.
Thavamani's "persistent refusal to heed the directions" of the officer had amounted to obstructing the officer from discharging his duty in dispersing persons in the vicinity of the riot, the judge said.
In sentencing, the judge said that while the accused had not taken part in the violence, the court must still send a strong signal that such "blatant disregard for authorities" will not be tolerated.
Thavamani's five-month jail sentence was backdated to Jan 23, and was completed on the day it was passed. He had been in police custody in prison since his arrest on Dec. 8 last year.
He is likely to be deported soon, the Straits Times said.
Among the 25 facing charges in relation the riot, four other Indian nationals were also jailed for rioting, receiving terms of 18 to 33 months each. Two of the four also admitted to mischief by fire and received three strokes of the cane.
Six others were given jail terms of 15 or 18 weeks each for failing to disperse at the night of the riot, while another was jailed for nine months for joining an unlawful assembly.
Thirteen other cases are pending.