The new Chee Soon Juan? Singapore activist Jolovan Wham defiant after court charges
Possible jail time looms for strident critic of the Lion City’s ruling People’s Action Party following protests that included an address by Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong
A Singaporean civil activist facing the prospect of imprisonment for organising small-scale public protests has urged his compatriots to question why peaceful assemblies are criminalised, as rights groups and observers once again piled pressure on the government to dial back its heavy-handed approach with dissenters.
One Singapore politics watcher said the prosecution of Jolovan Wham, one of the ruling People’s Action Party’s (PAP) most vocal critics, was a reminder that the establishment’s intolerance for civil obedience was here to stay even as a leadership change looms ahead in the coming few years.
Wham, 37, was charged in a district court on Wednesday for organising “public assemblies without a police permit” between last November and July – one of which was an indoor forum featuring an address by Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung via Skype.
Wham was also slapped with one charge of vandalism for pasting two sheets of A4 paper on a metro train window in one of the protests, and three separate charges for refusing to sign police statements.
Organisers of illegal protests face a fine of up to S$5,000 (HK$29,000), with repeat offenders liable for a fine of up to S$10,000, a maximum six-month jail sentence, or both. For the vandalism charge, Wham faces a fine of up to S$2,000, or a jail term of up to three years with between three to eight strokes of the cane.