Singaporeans cuffed, shackled and chained for distributing flyers
while PRCs were allowed to create public nuisance freely
January 20, 2010
Two Singaporeans were in the courtroom yesterday
clothed in orange overalls labelled “Cluster B”, cuffed, shackled
and chained as they were brought back to court in the middle of
their sentence to answer yet more charges for illegal
assembly.
Dr Chee Soon Juan and Mr Gandhi Ambalam are serving a one-week
prison sentence after they were convicted for illegal assembly
without a permit for distributing flyers critical of the PAP in
2006.
In his verdict, District Judge Ch’ng Lye Beng said he agreed
with the Prosecution that “distributing flyers in a group of 5 or
more persons criticizing the PAP government’s policies is an
offence.”
Dr Chee and his colleagues from the Singapore Democratic Party
(SDP) had “distributed flyers at the Raffles City Shopping Centre
on 10 September 2006 questioning the ministers’ salaries as well as
the denial of political rights to Singaporeans,” according to the
SDP’s website.
Both defendants were still cuffed, shackled and chained when
they entered the dock until District Judge Chia Wee Kiat order the
cuffs to be removed though their ankles remained shackled and
fastened to the bench like some hardcore criminals.
Dr Chee’s sister Ms Chee Siok Chin then requested the judge to
order the shackles on their feet removed as “these men posed
absolutely no security threat whatsoever” after which
judge directed Mr. Gandhi and Dr. Chee to be placed in
another dock that had bars all around it, and the restraints to be
removed.
The humiliating treatment dished out to Dr Chee and Mr Ambalam
is in stark contrast to that received by a PRC family who
“hijacked” a SBS Transit bus two days ago by refusing to leave
it.
They had boarded the bus without wheelchair
accessibility at Mandai and was told by the bus captain that they
were not allowed to bring the wheelchair up the bus due to safety
reasons. However, they insisted on doing so and sat on the bus
for 6 hours, making a din in it.
Though the police was called to the scene, they did not
arrest them on the spot as they should have done so under the new
Public Orders Act.
The police officers were later seen “escorting” them
down the bus with one of them carrying their wheelchair to a
Maxi-cab paid for by SBS to send them home.
It is irony that legitimate political activities are
being criminalized in Singapore as “illegal assembly” while
foreigners who were obviously causing public nuisance and
disorder were let off the hook just like that.
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