MUSA President shows remorse for derogatory comments made online (again)

MUSA student president Stefan Biberstein has apologised for calling his 2019 political opponent Rohit Mohan a 'criminal' in a Facebook group chat.

Screenshots of the chat, dated at the end of September 2019, were sent to Massive by an anonymous source, where Biberstein commented on Mohan's international student status in a derogatory manner. 

"The criminal known as rohit was trying to use musa to illegally overstay in nz and convinced the international students to help him do it. in my opinion," read the message, which received two 'wow reacts' from fellow group members.

Biberstein said he has since sent an apology to Mohan for his ‘callous and dehumanising attempt at humour in a private group chat.’ 

“I was angry and frustrated with the contentious elements of the MUSA executive election from September 2019, but there is never a reason to denigrate our fellow humans, privately or publicly,” he said. 

“I’m glad to have been called out, it gives me the opportunity to reflect on how I react to these situations, acknowledge the hurt my actions generate and take a proactive approach to recognising the humanity in everyone.” 

When another person replied to the message asking the election results, Biberstein replied saying Mohan was getting deported. This was incorrect. 
The source sent Massive the screenshots in wake of an article that was published in a previous issue about racist and sexist comments Biberstein made on an old Reddit account. 

"I personally find Stefan's apology for his comments on Reddit to be weak and unpersuasive. Further, we believe that during Stefan's campaign he drew on racial prejudice when opposing the other candidate."