SINGAPORE: Three Singaporean activists, including an Indian-origin woman, were fined $2,341 on Thursday for organizing a march outside the Presidential Palace in solidarity with Palestine, local media reported.
According to the Straits Times, the High Court overturned the acquittal of three women, 26-year-old Malay Mossammad Sobikun Nahar, 30-year-old Siti Amirah Mohamed Asrori, and 37-year-old Indian Annamalai Kokila Parvathi, who were accused of organizing the February 2, 2024 march.
Judge Shi Qiyun allowed prosecutors to appeal against the acquittal of the three women, who each faced one charge under the Public Order Act of organizing a march in and around the presidential palace, an area restricted under the Public Order Act.
Their lawyer Derek Wong argued for a fine of S$3,000, while deputy public prosecutor Hay Hung Chun made no comment on the sentence.
The three women contested the charges in a joint trial due to begin in July 2025.
Surveillance video shown in court showed about 70 people gathering outside the Plaza Singapura shopping mall near the Royal Palace before walking toward the Presidential Palace holding open umbrellas painted with watermelons.
According to a Singaporean daily, the fruit represents the colors of the Palestinian flag.
In acquitting them in October 2025, District Judge John Ng said that although the three women marched on the relevant dates, they had no reasonable knowledge that the route was a restricted area.
The district judge said the burden was on the prosecution to prove two essential elements of the crime – the physical conduct and the mental element.
On April 30, Deputy Prosecutor Hay argued in arguing for the acquittal to be overturned that the magistrate had made a legal error in applying the correct legal test for mental factors.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Hay said prosecutors had made it very clear that the charges against the three women were not based on actual knowledge, but rather on the fact that they “should have reasonably known” that the route they were taking was off-limits.
The DPP noted that the women were aware that police had issued warnings that events related to the Israel-Hamas conflict would not be allowed.
Another red flag, he said, was that Siti and Sobikun were actually aware of previous events linked to the reason for cancellation.
He said information about public gatherings or marches would be available “24/7 via online access to the statue”.
Mr Huang argued that the magistrate made no mistake and applied the correct legal test.
He said knowing a POA is different from knowing what a no-go zone is.
This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
