On the perils of pummelling a President.

The French President was shaking hands with the public during a walkabout. He got slapped across his face. The perpetrator told the Court that he did so because "the president stood for all that was rotten with France".

The perpetrator claimed that the slap was not premeditated. But he did admit that before the President's visit, he had "thought about throwing an egg or a cream tart" at the President. He was slapped with 4 months' imprisonment.

Comments:

(a) his sentence may have been different if he had egged the President instead. For example, in 2019, a woman was convicted of egging the Australian Prime Minister. She was sentenced to 150 hours of community service.¹

(b) on the other hand, I don't recommend discussing egging public servants, in the Singaporean context. It might lead to an invitation to have coffee with our men and women in blue.²

(c) the perpetrator should be glad that he did not commit the same offence in Singapore. The Penal Code provides that whoever "plans the death of or hurt to or unlawful imprisonment or restraint of the President" shall be punished with (i) life imprisonment; or (ii) up to 20 years' imprisonment and a fine.

That being said, the law used to cover a broader scope. Prior to amendments that came into effect in 2020, the Penal Code provided that whoever "compasses,³ imagines, invents, devises, or intends the death of or hurt to or imprisonment or restraint of the President" would be punished with (i) the death penalty; or (ii) life imprisonment and a fine.

I leave you to consider the danger of certain unarticulated thoughts.