SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): A personal bond of S$5,000 was granted to former TV journalist Haseenah Koyakutty who faces criminal trespass charges, among other alleged offences.
A bail review was heard in court on Aug 5 for the 57-year-old, who has been in remand for more than five months.
The prosecution said: “Noting that the accused has been in remand for five months and seven days, we will not be objecting to a personal bond of $5,000.”
Her defence lawyer Sunil Sudheesan said he supported the application, and the judge granted it.
According to court documents, she was released on bail between May 2023 and May 2025, but allegedly failed to comply with the conditions of her release and did not report to the investigation officer when she was supposed to.
Haseenah is facing six charges, including one for causing alarm to someone by using insulting words.
Charge sheets stated that this alleged offence took place on Dec 17, 2025, at Takashimaya Shopping Centre. Her comments were related to the Chief Justice.
She is also accused of committing criminal trespass in 2023 by unlawfully remaining within Shangri-La Hotel.
She also allegedly committed criminal trespass in May 2025 when she entered a property in Bukit Timah and unlawfully remained there.
Haseenah is also accused of refusing to sign police statements that she made in April 2023 and June 2025.
Her case is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Sept 1.
Haseenah was a broadcast journalist in the 1990s with the then Television Corporation of Singapore, before becoming the Indonesia bureau chief for Channel NewsAsia.
She later became a visiting public diplomacy fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University.
Those convicted of criminal trespass can be jailed for up to three months, fined up to $1,500, or both.
Offenders who cause alarm by using insulting words can be jailed for up to six months, fined up to $5,000, or both, under the Protection from Harassment Act. -- The Straits Times/ANN
