The Singapore Police Force (SPF) will issue conditional warnings to all 21 Malaysians who participated in the illegal gathering at Merlion Park last Saturday.
Police said in a statement that the employers of the 21 Malaysians will be informed of this.
This follows the conditional warnings issued earlier to nine persons who took part in the illegal gathering at the same location on 8 May.
They were protesting the outcome of the recent Malaysian general elections.
Police added that they have initiated the revocation of the work pass of one of the 21 persons for being involved in both the 8 and 11 May illegal gatherings.
The authorities have also cancelled the visit passes of another two persons who participated in the May 11 gathering.
As for the remaining 18 persons, their work passes will be reviewed upon completion of further investigations.
Police said that Singapore does not take sides in the politics of other countries and it will work with whoever forms the government in a particular nation.
It added that foreigners living or working in Singapore must abide by Singapore's laws and should not import the issues or politics of their countries of origin to Singapore.
Police said that this is a long-standing principle which has helped maintain harmony and public order in Singapore, as well as good relations with other countries.
Malaysian opposition party 'very concerned' over arrest of 21 Malaysians in Singapore
Malaysia's Democratic Action Party has requested a meeting with the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur to discuss the fate of 21 Malaysians arrested on Saturday for staging an illegal protest at Merlion Park.
DAP Member of Parliament for the Kulai constituency in Johor, Teo Nie Ching, told Yahoo! Singapore late on Tuesday that so far eight of those arrested in Singapore for protesting the recent election results have contacted her seeking help.
The DAP is one of the opposition parties under the Pakatan Rakyat coalition led by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
The DAP, she said, will also help to look for lawyers in Singapore to represent those arrested if “they are indeed charged in court.” Singapore police have said investigations are on-going.
Teo also did not rule out the possibility for making a trip down to Singapore to meet the protesters, and said she would do so if there was a need. The MP is also coordinating efforts to help the 21, who are out on bail at the moment, to share and exchange information.
"As a lawyer by profession in Malaysia, I will try my best to give them some legal advice too,” she said.
The illegal protest where the arrests were made was held at the Merlion Park last Saturday – a few days after a first protest at the same location resulted in local police issuing a stern warning to nine Malaysians.
A police spokesman told AFP that the Malaysians were held under the Public Order Act, under which organisers of illegal protests can be jailed up to six months or fined S$10,000. They can also be both jailed and fined.
“It’s not just in Singapore. It happened in other countries too and I feel proud of my fellow Malaysians. Some say overseas Malaysians don’t care about what is going on in their homeland, but these Malaysians who protested overseas proved them wrong,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian High Commission to Singapore Datuk Md Hussin Nayan warned Malaysians living here to respect the laws or "face the consequences".
"I hope Malaysians working or studying in Singapore will reflect more on their situation before acting illegally," he was quoted on saying in The Star newspaper.
The protests were a result of anger over alleged fraud in the recent general election which saw the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional, led by Prime Minister Najib Razak, continue its 56-year reign of the country after winning a simple majority of parliament seats. However, Najib’s government lost the overall popular vote, garnering only 47 per cent.
The opposition coalition’s leader Anwar Ibrahim has challenged the outcome of the 13th general election, refusing to accept the results and calling it the “mother of all frauds.”
No comments:
Post a Comment