Trial opens for 3 women who allegedly organised procession outside Istana
SINGAPORE – Three women have gone on trial after they pleaded not guilty to organising a procession around the Istana without a permit.
Mossammad Sobikun Nahar, 26, Siti Amirah Mohamed Asrori, 30, and Annamalai Kokila Parvathi, 36, appeared in the State Courts for the first day of their joint trial on July 1.
The women each face one charge of organising a procession along the perimeter of the Istana, which is a prohibited area, under the Public Order Act.
They are accused of organising the procession on Feb 2, 2024 to publicise the cause of solidarity with Palestine.
Investigation Officer Muhammad Faizal, testifying as the first prosecution witness, said he was tasked to investigate an event called 'Letters for Palestine' at the Istana.
He took the court through closed circuit television (CCTV) footage that showed a group of around 70 people had gathered outside Plaza Singapura before walking to the Istana while holding open umbrellas painted with a watermelon graphic.
The footage showed that Sobikun led the group along Orchard Road, Buyong Road and Cavenagh Road as they made their way to the rear entrance of the Istana.
When the group reached the rear entrance of the Istana, they formed up, with a number of them holding up watermelon umbrellas and posing for photos, he said.
He also pointed to how Amirah was seen holding a stack of letters and fanning them out while taking photos.
During the cross-examination, defence lawyer Surian Sidambaram asked IO Faizal if this event, Letters for Palestine, involved people handing letters to the Prime Minister's Office.
The IO said yes.
Mr Surian asked if there were any signs along the route to the Istana warning that a group of people walking over to hand-deliver letters to the Prime Minister's Office constituted an offence. The IO replied no.
Mr Surian then asked IO Faizal if he was aware that on Jan 11, 2024, three weeks before the alleged procession in this current case, a group of 17 people had hand-delivered letters to the Prime Minister's Office using the same route.
The IO replied that he was made aware of that case through the course of his investigations, but could not speak on the cause the 17 people were showing support for.
Mr Surian said: 'One of my clients' defences is that they were not aware that using that route to hand-deliver letters to the Prime Minister's Office was an offence.
'Given that there had been a similar event three weeks prior for the same cause and no action was taken, that led them to believe that it was legal and that they were not organising a procession in a prohibited area.'
The defence lawyer then made an application to enter into evidence five past cases where people hand-delivered letters for various causes, but no action was said to have been taken.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sunil Nair objected to this, noting that there were insufficient details of the past incidents to make accurate comparisons.
'There could be various reasons why no action was taken, but this cannot be a reason for an offender to contravene the law,' said the prosecutor.
In reply, Mr Surian said: 'My clients saw the past events and nothing happened, so they thought they had the rights to organise their own event.'
After hearing both sides, District Judge John Ng rejected the defence's application to enter evidence of the past cases for the current trial.
Addressing Mr Surian, Judge Ng said: 'If there's a boy throwing a stone at a shopping centre window, a second boy would not be able to say that the first boy was not caught and not charged, so 'I could do it too'. That is not a valid defence.'
The trial continues.
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