Two men, aged 24 and 25, have been apprehended for staging a small protest outside the Istana last Saturday afternoon.
Donning identical red sweatshirts and blue jeans while carrying signs that read “You can’t silence the people” and “Injustice”, both of them turned up in front of the Istana gates at 4pm and carried out their picketing for about half an hour.
According to various media reports, the men refused to stop their activities despite the police ordering them to do so. They were later arrested under Section 16(1)(a) of the Public Order Act for organising a public assembly without a permit.
Protests can be carried out in Singapore — but only within the confines of Hong Lim Park, and even so, with permit from the park authorities. Any protests outside the park requires permit from the police.
It is not known which group or affiliation both men represented; but freedom of speech in the city-state is increasingly becoming a hot issue in the past week, following 16-year-old Amos Yee’s arrest after uploading a video of himself on YouTube celebrating the passing of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. He has been charged in court, mainly for seditious remarks against Christianity.
Already, the arrest of the two peaceful protestors have prompted a commentary on the Asian Correspondent about Singapore’s perceived freedom of assembly, and how the ruling government are ensuring a muted landscape for political expression.
Police investigations on the two men are ongoing.
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