Serial protestor who called for PM Lee's resignation at Raffles Place back in court
A protestor who called for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s resignation and repeatedly held illegal demonstrations at several locations across Singapore was back in court on Wednesday (4 April), less than seven months after he was sentenced for a similar offence committed in the same place.
At his trial in the State Courts, Yan Jun, a 42-year-old Singaporean, contested three charges of holding a protest in February this year.
Yan, who claimed to have held protests around Singapore eight times, is accused of one count of taking part in a public assembly without a permit. He also faces one count of behaving in a disorderly manner by shouting in the face of a police officer, and one count of ignoring a police order to leave an area for a period of 24 hours.
All the charges stem from the incident outside Raffles Place MRT on 22 February this year when Yan held two placards to protest against the corruption of Singapore’s judicial system and call for Lee’s resignation.
It was the fourth time that he was prosecuted for offences related to breaches of the Public Order Act.
Last July, Yan also protested at the same place, where he displayed a sign with the words “PM Lee: resign over Terrex conspiracy!” on one side and criticised the judicial system on the other. He was arrested and released later that day before returning to the area the following day to protest about the same issues.
He was sentenced to three weeks’ jail and fined $20,000 on charges of participating in a public assembly without a permit and a count of behaving in a disorderly manner
In late 2016, Yan also demonstrated outside the US Embassy and the British High Commission.
During his trial on Wednesday, Yan accused the police of corruption and had his back turned to District Judge Luke Tan throughout the proceedings after claiming that the judge refused to “accept his case”.
He remained uncooperative and asked questions related to the duty of police officers and the judicial system when invited to cross-examine prosecution witnesses.
The prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor G Kannan, played two video clips – including one from a body-worn camera – taken by the police of the incident in court.
In the video, Yan was seen holding two placards with the words “PM Lee and Justice Chao: resign over the Terrex conspiracy!” and “Singapore’s legal system is totally corrupt” written on one of them. The other placard had the words “The Opposition: Prove yourself!” written on one side.
Yan was seen protesting outside Raffles Place MRT during lunch hour as a crowd gathered near him. Two police officers approached him with a written direction to leave the area for 24 hours. The officers were seen leaving the document by Yan’s feet before moving off for a few minutes.
When the officers approached him again, Yan told them to arrest him and shouted, “If you don’t arrest me, tomorrow I will continue my protest.” He got louder throughout the exchange until two officers handcuffed and led him away.
One of the officers who arrested Yan, Inspector of Police Siaw Kah Swee, testified that Yan was “rowdy” and “hostile” towards him.
Senior Investigation Officer Ahmad Salihin Mashadi testified that Yan emailed the police about his impending protest outside the MRT station three days before the incident.
Yan had only ever applied once to hold a public assembly outside the Istana from 10am to 8pm in March 2016. His application was rejected.
When asked to give evidence, Yan took the stand for less than 10 minutes without calling any witness. He said that his defence was in relation to police corruption.
The case will be heard again in court on Thursday for the prosecution to file additional submissions.
