On 13 Dec 2018, a man by the name of Jolovan Wham stood outside the former State Courts and held a piece of paper up to his chest:
“Drop the charges against Terry Xu and Daniel De Costa”, the piece of paper said.
What Mr Wham may not have known is that you can’t go around holding pieces of paper up like that without a special permit.
Consequently, he was assumed to be staging a protest and was investigated by the police. Now, however, there’s a twist in this story that no one would have seen coming.
Jolovan Wham’s Lawyer Said He Was Merely Posing for a Photo & Not Staging a Public Assembly
The 41-year-old civil rights activist was later charged with an offence under the Public Order Act for allegedly taking part in an illegal assembly, but his lawyers disagree.
Speaking in a district court yesterday, they said that their client was merely posing for a photo.
“It does not constitute an offence under the (Public Order Act) because it’s not an assembly. It’s a photo-taking session, to put things simply,” Mr Eugene Thuraisingam, one of his lawyers, said.
What He Was Allegedly Protesting
Wham was allegedly protesting against the defamation charges handed to Terry Xu, The Online Citizen’s (TOC) editor, and De Costa, one of its alleged contributors.
Both were charged in court that day when Wham held that piece of paper up, asking for the charges to be dropped.
TOC has published an article about MP Seah Kian Peng, which alleged corruption by government officers.
Held it Up For 15 Seconds
Before entering the court building that day, Wham stood on the steps outside the entrance and held up that now-infamous piece of paper.
CCTV footage showed that Wham had held up the sign for about 15 seconds while a woman took a photo of him.
Two people were seen walking past Wham while he held up the sign, but they did not stop to look at him.
The 41-year-old then placed the piece of paper in his bag and entered the building. He later shared the photo on his public social media accounts.
Given that some influencers take around two hours to take a single selfie, his lawyers’ claim may be true after all.
Previously Applied For Permit to Stage One-man Assembly
As one of the police officers who had testified during the prosecution’s cross-examination said, Wham had applied for a permit to stage a one-man assembly outside the State Courts building at 9pm on 9 Dec, 2018, but was turned down.
He did not apply for a permit to hold a public assembly on 13 Dec, the day he allegedly staged the protest.
During Mr Thuraisingam’s cross-examination, the officers also testified that Wham’s actions that day did not pose a threat to public order or disturb anyone.
He didn’t call attention to himself either, the witnesses said, adding that taking a photo outside the court building is not an offence in itself.
Citizens Constitutionally Guaranteed Right to Freedom of Speech & Expression
According to Article 14 of the Singapore Consitution, citizens are guaranteed the right to freedom of speech and expression in Singapore.
However, the Singapore Parliament is entitled to restrict the right in two situations:
- Where the restrictions are designed to protect Parliament or against any contempt of court, defamation, or incitement to any offence
- Where the restrictions are deemed necessary or expedient in the interest of national security, relations with other countries, public order, or morality
Mr Thuraisingam said he plans to raise issues related to this constitutional right, and will question whether the prosecution’s case was brought against his client in bad faith.
In 2019, Wham was fined $3,200 for organising a public assembly without a permit in 2016 and for refusing to sign a statement he gave to the police working on the case.
He chose to serve 16 days in jail instead of paying the fine.
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Featured Image: Facebook (Kirsten Han)
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