<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Sep 11, 2009
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Man hit Jew, jailed <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>He is the first to be convicted of religiously motivated assault </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Elena Chong, Court Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->HE HAD the words 'ANTI JEWS' tattooed on his face and Azmi Osman showed the hostility he felt in February this year when he punched a Jewish man on the arm without any apparent reason.
On Thursday, the unemployed man, 34, became the first to be convicted of a religiously motivated assault and of promoting enmity between different groups with the tattoo on the right side of his face.
Azmi, who has schizophrenia, pleaded guilty to the two charges and two others of armed robbery and causing hurt by using a dangerous weapon at an NTUC FairPrice outlet in Bedok on April 24. He was sentenced to three years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane by Community Court judge Ng Peng Hong.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kevin Yong told the court that Mr Eliyahu Benhiyoun, 21, an American religious worker based in Singapore with the Jewish Welfare Board, was in the lobby of the National Library on Feb 25, engrossed in sending an SMS to a friend, when he suddenly heard someone shout at him and felt a punch on his upper right arm.
Mr Benhiyoun, who was wearing a yarmulke, an orthodox Jewish skullcap, saw Azmi staring at him. He noticed the tattoo on his right cheek, which he said offended him.
Azmi claimed at first that the victim had provoked him. He also claimed that 'ANTI JEWS' stood for 'Anti Jagged', 'Endeavour', 'Worship' and 'Satanic', and symbolised underground music.
But while investigation into the case was ongoing, Azmi got into further trouble when he stole three bottles of tonic wine and a knife from the Bedok supermarket on April 24. He also slashed a staff member on the back of his right hand.
Pressing for a stiff sentence, DPP Wong Kok Weng argued that Azmi's February offences were racially or religiously aggravated, and such acts could threaten the long-term stability and social cohesion which Singaporeans had taken great pains to preserve. 'Such xenophobic acts cannot be condoned in a multi-religious and multi-racial society such as Singapore,' he said.
DPP Wong said if hate acts based on race or religion were allowed to persist, the fault lines between groups would deepen. This would create opportunities that extremist elements could exploit.
Azmi, whose psychiatric illness was in remission when he committed the offences, had two other charges considered during his sentencing.
Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times
[email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Man hit Jew, jailed <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>He is the first to be convicted of religiously motivated assault </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Elena Chong, Court Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->HE HAD the words 'ANTI JEWS' tattooed on his face and Azmi Osman showed the hostility he felt in February this year when he punched a Jewish man on the arm without any apparent reason.
On Thursday, the unemployed man, 34, became the first to be convicted of a religiously motivated assault and of promoting enmity between different groups with the tattoo on the right side of his face.
Azmi, who has schizophrenia, pleaded guilty to the two charges and two others of armed robbery and causing hurt by using a dangerous weapon at an NTUC FairPrice outlet in Bedok on April 24. He was sentenced to three years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane by Community Court judge Ng Peng Hong.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kevin Yong told the court that Mr Eliyahu Benhiyoun, 21, an American religious worker based in Singapore with the Jewish Welfare Board, was in the lobby of the National Library on Feb 25, engrossed in sending an SMS to a friend, when he suddenly heard someone shout at him and felt a punch on his upper right arm.
Mr Benhiyoun, who was wearing a yarmulke, an orthodox Jewish skullcap, saw Azmi staring at him. He noticed the tattoo on his right cheek, which he said offended him.
Azmi claimed at first that the victim had provoked him. He also claimed that 'ANTI JEWS' stood for 'Anti Jagged', 'Endeavour', 'Worship' and 'Satanic', and symbolised underground music.
But while investigation into the case was ongoing, Azmi got into further trouble when he stole three bottles of tonic wine and a knife from the Bedok supermarket on April 24. He also slashed a staff member on the back of his right hand.
Pressing for a stiff sentence, DPP Wong Kok Weng argued that Azmi's February offences were racially or religiously aggravated, and such acts could threaten the long-term stability and social cohesion which Singaporeans had taken great pains to preserve. 'Such xenophobic acts cannot be condoned in a multi-religious and multi-racial society such as Singapore,' he said.
DPP Wong said if hate acts based on race or religion were allowed to persist, the fault lines between groups would deepen. This would create opportunities that extremist elements could exploit.
Azmi, whose psychiatric illness was in remission when he committed the offences, had two other charges considered during his sentencing.
Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times
[email protected]
