|
|
|
Sg
Human Rights members stage march to present petition to
ASEAN
Singapore Democrats
20 Nov
07
Four members of Sg Human Rights, Mr Chia Ti Lik, Mr Ho
Choon Hiong, Mr Isrizal and Mr Seelan Palay walked from the
Orchard Road MRT Station to Shangri-La Hotel this afternoon to
present a giant "greeting
card"
to the ASEAN Secretariat. (See AFP report below)
The card,
calling for freedom in Burma, was signed by attendees at a public
forum held on 18 Nov 07.
Mr Ng E-Jay, another member of
the newly established group, released a press statement which
stated that the four activists were accompanied by about 20
members of the press as well as policemen who video-taped the
activity.
The statement also said that the petitioners
walked from Orchard MRT station to Orange Grove Road whereupon
they were stopped by the police on standby.
The police did
not allow the four men to proceed to the hotel even though it was
was open to the public. The reason was that the petitioners were
holding an item that could prove "embarrassing
to the Burmese representatives at the ASEAN Summit."
The
activists eventually handed over the greeting card to a
representative of the ASEAN Secretariat who came to collect it.
They answered some questions from the journalists before
dispersing. Mr Ng said that the group will provide more details
of the event as well as video footage of the activity in due
course.
Check out the website at
www.sghumanrights.org.
Protesters
barred from giving Suu Kyi card to ASEAN leaders
AFP
20
Nov
07
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=102097
Singapore
activists were barred Tuesday from delivering a greeting card
bearing the image of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
to Southeast Asian leaders meeting here.
The Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit has been dominated by
the issue of the military state, which earned global condemnation
for its violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests in
September.
Singapore authorities have tightened laws
against public protests as part of an intense security campaign
surrounding the summit, but four activists marched toward the
venue in an attempt to deliver the card.
Wearing T-shirts
with the message "We pursue peace, justice and democracy for
Burma," they proceeded down the famed Orchard Road shopping
strip under the watchful eye of police.
When they reached
the approach road to the heavily guarded hotel where the meeting
is being held, they were stopped by police who refused to let
them pass and arranged for an ASEAN official to collect the
card.
Measuring about two feet (60 centimeters), it
contained about 40 signatures and messages which organizers said
were mostly from Myanmar people.
"Human rights and
peace for all" and "We all want human rights now"
they read.
"What has been done in Burma should not be
condoned," said one of the protesters, Chia Tilik.
"We
come in peace to deliver peaceful messages," said another of
the group who gave his name as Isrizal. He said they were upset
over ASEAN's decision to cancel a planned briefing on Myanmar by
UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari.
They were "really
disappointed that ASEAN has snubbed Gambari. That's the whole
hypocrisy of the matter," he told Agence France-Presse.
On
Monday another group of nine foreign students from Singapore
universities tested the city-state's laws, which ban protests of
five or more people without a permit, by marching in small groups
along Orchard Road.
Carrying candles and wearing the same
red T-shirts as Tuesday's group, they later dispersed without
incident.
|
|
