The editor of a news site frequently at odds with the government seemed to suggest today that officers raided his home this week over an email exchange with the police that he had made public.
After meeting with the police today – a day after they seized items during a raid on his home – Terry Xu of The Online Citizen said he was questioned over an unspecified letter he had published Jan. 27.
“Finished my interview at Cantonment complex with the Police. Interview was about two hours, shorter than what it would have been as I declined to answer questions in regards to the operation of the website, such as staffing and its financial model,” he wrote today. “The investigation that led to my phone and computer being seized, is looking into a possible offence under the Administration of Justice Act for the publication of a letter on 27 Jan 2021.”
The only public post that day on his Facebook page contained screenshots of email correspondence with the police over their refusal to let him conduct a one-man protest in Tuas against the culling of stray dogs.
After the police seized several possessions at his home on Monday, Xu said he was told not to disclose the nature of the investigation.
The Xu published screenshots of the emails one day after three people were arrested for protesting the treatment of trans students outside the Ministry of Education.
They showed him pressing for an explanation for why they had rejected his protest permit application. It was not clear what portion of the act would have been violated by sharing them.
Police permits are required to hold public assemblies in Singapore, even if that “assembly” only involves one person.
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