57-year-old Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman was remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric evaluation, after breaking Covid-19 safety rules in 2021.
He was charged with 2 counts of failing to wear a face mask in 2021, where he allegedly failed to wear a mask at East Coast park and also inside and outside of the State Courts.
Abdul Rashid also told the court during his trial, that he was a sovereign citizen who was representing his former self, who was dead.
He had claimed trial against his two charges for not wearing a mask.
Kingdom Filipina Hacienda
On 19 March 2021, Abdul Rashid reportedly didn’t wear a mask at the East Coast Lagoon Food Village despite several reminders to do so.
He then continued sitting at his table waiting for his food without his mask on.
He had claimed to be an ambassador of “Kingdom Filipina Hacienda”, according to a witness, and said that he had a political exemption to the mask rule and told safe distancing officers that they had no right to intrude, acting aggressively.
He reportedly asked the officers “Why are you forcing me to put on the mask when I was sitting with family … you approached me when we were sitting to continuously put on the mask.”
“Sovereign”
Abdul Rashid said during his defence that he was acting on behalf of his former self, who had since passed away.
He then read from a document declaring his sovereignty and claimed that he cannot be governed by Singapore’s laws.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh then asked to assess the mental state of the accused and pointed out that he was incoherent and would not be able to follow the proceedings of the court, to which Senior District Judge Bala Reddy agreed.
Abdul Rashid was then ordered to be remanded at IMH for 2 weeks after his testimony from the stand, where it became clear that he needed evaluation.
“Revoked consent” to be governed
Abdul Rashid was heard saying that he was denied the chance to explain his evidence after the hearing, and when the police tried to get him to cooperate, he told them “I understand what you’re saying but I disagree.”
He also told the police officers that he had “revoked consent” to be governed more than 20 years ago, and that he was not a member of society.
He also told them that he was the “great-grandson of the sultanate of Singapore”, and added that he had renounced his Singapore citizenship when asked for his identification documents.
Additionally, the two men who accompanied Abdul Rashid to the court had reportedly told him that they would help him “inform the queen” of his situation.