SINGAPORE: Three women who were accused of organising a procession around the Istana without a permit to publicise the cause of solidarity with Palestine were acquitted on Tuesday (Oct 21).
Mossammad Sobikun Nahar, 26, Siti Amirah Mohamed Asrori, 30, and Annamalai Kokila Parvathi, 37, had been accused of organising a procession on Feb 2, 2024, along the perimeter of the Istana, bound by Orchard Road, Buyong Road and Cavenagh Road.
The three women were each charged under the Public Order Act, with the case going to trial on July 1.
In acquitting the three women on Oct 21, District Judge John Ng said they had an honest and reasonable belief that they did not know the public path they were walking on to deliver letters to the Istana was a prohibited area.
He added that while the prosecution did prove that Sobikun and Amirah organised the procession, with assistance from Annamalai, they failed to show that the women ought to have known that it was conducted on the grounds of a prohibited area.
The judge said the women did not reasonably know that the route they took from Plaza Singapura to the Istana was a prohibited area under the Public Order Act, noting that there were no signages or notices on the public path stating this.
“In conclusion, an acquittal of the three persons is in order,” Judge Ng said to loud gasps in the packed courtroom.
Those convicted of organising a public procession in a prohibited area can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to six months, or both. - The Straits Times/ANN
