Activist Jolovan Wham found guilty of organising assembly without permit, refusing to sign police statement

SINGAPORE — Civil rights activist Jolovan Wham was found guilty on Thursday (Jan 3) of organising an assembly without a permit in 2016 and refusing to sign a statement he gave to the police on the case.

Wham, who claimed trial to both charges, will return to court on Jan 23 for sentencing.

Wham, 38, organised an event called “Civil Disobedience and Social Movement” on Nov 26, 2016 at The Agora, a bookstore that is also a performance and event venue at Midview City in Sin Ming estate.

The event featured speakers such as Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, who tuned in via a video call on Skype, artist Seelan Palay, as well as freelance journalist Kirsten Han.

They discussed issues relating to civil disobedience and democracy in social change.

It was publicised on Facebook and its page showed 7,600 people were invited, with 366 indicating interest in attending.

In the lead-up to the event, the police had advised Wham to apply for a permit under the Public Order Act, given that Wong was a foreigner and slated to speak at the event.

On Dec 20, 2016, when an investigating officer recorded a statement from Wham, he confirmed it to be true, but refused to sign it.

During the trial, the court heard that it was his “personal practice” when he could not get a copy of the signed documents.

Despite being told that refusal to sign the statement was an offence, Wham persisted.

During the three-day trial in October, Wham told the court through his lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam that he would not be testifying and would not call any defence witness.

In his closing submissions to the court, Mr Thuraisingam argued that the event “did not seek to publicise any specific cause, but rather facilitated a discussion on the topics relating to political involvement, activism and civil participation in general”.

This meant that the event did not constitute an “assembly”, he contended.

However, the prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutors Kumaresan Gohulabalan and Nicholas Wuan, said this “mischaracterises the purpose and nature” of the event.

On Mr Thuraisingam’s argument that the requirement of a permit under the Public Order Act was a breach of Wham’s constitutional rights of “freedom of speech, assembly and association”, the prosecution said it was “vague and misconceived”.

“(Wham) failed to apply for a permit despite being explicitly informed by the police of the need to do so,” they added.

District Judge Kessler Soh, in convicting Wham on Thursday, said he had failed to “raise any valid defence”.

Some friends and supporters of Wham, the former executive director of migrant workers’ advocacy group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, attended the hearing.

For organising a public assembly without a permit, Wham could be fined up to S$5,000.

For refusing to sign the police statement, he could be jailed for up to three months, fined up to S$2,500, or both.

Wham has another case pending.

He was, in October, found guilty of contempt of court for a Facebook post published on April 27, which alleged that Malaysia's judges were more independent than Singapore's for cases with political implications.