Activist Jolovan Wham Fined for Illegal Gatherings, Chooses to Go to Jail Instead

Say one day, you’re faced with a choice: pay money or go to prison; which would you choose?

Most would probably say, pay, given all the horror stories you’ve heard about being in prison.

For 41-year-old activist Jolovan Wham, however, he chose to go to jail.

Here’s what happened.

Illegal Demonstration On The MRT

On 21 May 2017, Wham suggested the idea of gathering in the MRT for the launch of the book, 1987: Singapore’s Marxist Conspiracy 30 years on.

The book, which was launched the previous month, contains content and stories from 36 contributors, some of whom were detained under the Internal Security Act back in 1987.

Wham and a few others gathered at the platform of Marina South MRT station on 3 Jun 2017.

Wham distributed copies of the books, as well as trash bags that were subsequently used as blindfolds.

The group boarded the train and sat in a row, holding the book up to face level while blindfolded.

Two signs were displayed as well on A4 papers:

• JUSTICE FOR OPERATION SPECTRUM SURVIVORS #notodetentionwithouttrial
• MARXIST CONSPIRACY? #notodetentionwithouttrial

They repeated this action twice on different trains, and Wham posted about it on his Instagram and Facebook page.

Investigated & Sentenced

On 9 Jun 2017, the police called Wham to assist with the investigations.

He went down to the Police Cantonment Complex ten days later and gave a statement.

However, when he was asked to sign the statement, he refused.

On 15 Feb 2021, Wham was fined S$8,000 for organising an illegal public gathering on the MRT.

The prosecution in charge of the case had asked for a S$9,500 fine, saying that his track record warranted a harsher punishment.

Wham’s lawyers, on the other hand, asked for a S$6,400 fine, pointing out that he hasn’t damaged public property, and that the gathering was peaceful.

When sentencing Wham, the judge had considered two other charges related to when Wham held an illegal public assembly outside Changi Prison.

Wham pleaded guilty to one charge each of:

• Public vandalism
• Refusing to sign a police statement
• holding a public assembly without a permit under the Public Order Act

When he appeared in court, Wham said that he was not ashamed of his actions and did not intend to cause any public disturbance.

Jail

In total, Wham paid S$2,500 for failing to sign the police statement.

However, for the remaining amount, he opted to serve the 22-day default jail term instead.

In Wham’s written statement, he said that he refused to pay for the other fines to “protest against a system which criminalises a non-violent, peaceful assembly, and laws such as the Public Order Act and the Vandalism Act which make a mockery of our democracy”.

This isn’t the first time Wham has done so too.

Back in Jan 2019, when Wham was slapped with a S$3,200 fine, he paid S$1,200 for refusing to sign a police statement and served 10 days in jail.

Feature Image: Social Media / Google Map