Serial protestor jailed, fined over latest Raffles Place demonstration

Recalcitrant demonstrator Yan Jun was sentenced to six and a half months’ jail and fined $5,000 on Wednesday (11 April) for staging a one-man protest outside Raffles Place MRT in February.

Being handed the punishment did not stop him from declaring in court, however, that he would continue to stage his demonstrations at the same location upon his release.

Just last week, Yan had claimed trial to one count of taking part in a public assembly without a permit, 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. Yan’s trial lasted less than two days before Tan convicted him on all his charges.

All the charges stemmed 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.

The 42-year-old Singaporean was also convicted a total of seven times over the past two years for staging demonstrations outside of official buildings such as the Istana, Parliament House, the US embassy and the British High Commission and outside Raffles Place MRT Station.

He was handed the maximum fine of $5,000 on each of the last five occasions that he protested in 2016 and 2017. Yan has not paid any of the fines imposed on him but served a total of 15 weeks and 37 days’ jail in default.

Yan’s numerous brushes with the law were noted by District Judge Luke Tan, who described them as Yan’s “sorry antecedent record”. He had shown a lack of remorse during the trial and had brought the same “abhorrent” behaviour from his protest into court, said Tan.

In court last week, Yan accused the police of corruption and had his back turned to the judge throughout the proceedings after claiming that Tan had refused to “accept his case”.

Tan noted on Wednesday that Yan had reoffended within a short time from his most recent release from prison and went to lengths to plan his latest offence, even e-mailing the police about his impending protest.

When asked if he had anything to say, Yan asked for the maximum 30 months’ jail sentence and said he was not “inclined” but “determined” to continue protesting at Raffles Place. He disagreed with the prosecution’s jail sentence of seven months and a $5,000 fine, and flung his court documents onto the ground at the end of the hearing.

In seeking a jail sentence, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) G Kannan noted that Yan had promised to reoffend upon his release.

“(Yan) has shown utter defiance and a complete contempt for proceedings… he persists in making a mockery of out laws and criminal justice system and our criminal justice system must stand up to him,” said Kannan.

The prosecution also submitted an Institute of Mental Health report which concluded that Yan was not of unsound mind and had no mental disorder. However, the same report placed him at a high risk of reoffending.

Yan has one more outstanding charge of refusing to answer to a police officer authorised to question him four days after his February protest which he is also claiming trial to.