Man arrested for giving false information on NDP 'terrorist attack' 13 years ago

SINGAPORE - A man who falsely said that a terrorist attack would happen at Singapore's 40th National Day Parade (NDP) has been arrested, 13 years after the incident happened.

He is expected to be charged in court on Friday (Oct 5).

The Straits Times understands that the man is a British national and had claimed that bombs would be set off at the parade.

The Singapore Police Force said in a statement on Thursday that the 42-year-old man will be charged with giving information that he knows to be false to a public servant.

He was arrested on May 26 this year at Changi Airport, after he flew into Singapore from London.

The man allegedly gave the false information on July 24, 2005.

Police were then alerted by the then Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (Mica) to an e-mail from an unknown sender, which stated that a terrorist attack would take place at Singapore's 40th NDP.

After investigations, police found that the e-mail was sent from abroad and identified the suspect.

The police said: "Subsequent investigations revealed that the suspect was believed to have sent the false information of a terrorist attack to Mica to cause unnecessary alarm, so that resources would be deployed to look into the information."

If convicted of knowingly giving false information, the man could be jailed for up to a year and fined up to $5,000.

Members of the public are reminded that police resources could be put to better use in dealing with real crimes and emergencies than investigating false reports or false information, said the police.

Those who lodge false police reports or provide false information will face serious consequences under the law, police added.

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