Two Fined For Taking Part In Protest

Ng E-Jay has revealed his reason for pleading guilty to the illegal assembly charge on his blog at www.sgpolitics.net.

Dr Chee Soon Juan applied in court on Friday to the trial judge to dismiss the charges brought against the 17 activists because these charges go against the Singapore Constitution. He made these points to District Judge Chia Wee Kiat. Read his arguments at yoursdp.org.

Channel News Asia ran this story on 24 October 2008:

Two men involved in a protest against recent price hikes have been fined a total of S$1,800.

31-year-old PhD student, Ng E-Jay, and 44-year-old freelance offshore engineer, Jeffrey George, admitted to taking part in an unlawful demonstration dubbed the "Tak Boleh Tahan" protest near Parliament House on March 15 this year.

They, together with 17 other similarly accused persons – including Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan, his sister Chee Siok Chin and lawyer Chia Ti Lik – turned up in full force at the Subordinate Court on Thursday with their supporters.

While nearly all of them claimed trial, Ng and George did otherwise and threw in the towel.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Isaac Tan said the two men took part in the rally even after they found out from the SDP website that a permit was not granted for the event.

In his mitigation, Ng's lawyer, Dennis Chua, said his client took part in the protest as he was "very passionate" about issues on how the rising cost of living affected the average Singaporean.

He told District Judge Ch'ng Lye Beng that Ng was an "offender of conscience" and had no intention to cause any mischief during the rally.

Ng was fined S$600 for taking part in the illegal assembly and George was fined a similar amount for the same offence. At a separate hearing later in the evening, the latter was fined a further S$600 for taking part in an illegal procession.

DPP Tan informed District Judge Liew Thiam Leng that on that day, George had walked from the driveway of the Parliament House towards the nearby Funan DigitaLife Mall.

Police ordered George and the other alleged protesters to halt, but they refused to do so. The authorities arrested them after repeated warnings, said DPP Tan.

The remaining 17 accused persons intend to proceed to trial on Friday.