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Update:
Chee Siok Chin and John Tan released
Singapore
Democrats
20 Nov 07
Ms Chee Siok Chin and Mr John Tan
were released after police held them without providing a reason
when the two appeared outside the Shangri-la Hotel this
afternoon.
They arrived at about 5.00 pm at Orchard
Towers when they were told that a group of Burmese were gathering
there to stage a protest march. Ms Chee and Mr Tan were there to
lend support to the protesters.
By 5.45pm, both SDP
leaders decided to take a walk towards Shangrila Hotel as there
were no protesters in sight.
As they approached Orchard
Hotel, plainclothes police were seen scurrying to set up their
video cameras and getting on their cell phones. As the two turned
into Orange Grove Road, a group of police officers approached
them and warned the duo that they were in a protected area and
that they should turn back.
There were at least three
other members of the public who walked past them towards the
Shangri-la Hotel and they were not stopped or given any warning
by the police.
Mr Tan and Ms Chee thanked the police for
the warnings and walked on. About 100 m from the hotel, female
police officers surrounded Ms Chee and prevented her from walking
on.
At this point a senior police officer was summoned to
the scene. He asked Ms Chee what her intention was walking
towards the hotel. Ms Chee told the police that she was intending
to have a meal there. Despite this, the police prevented the both
of them from proceeding.
An unmarked police van then
pulled up and Ms Chee was forced into the van. Mr John Tan was
subsequently dragged into the same van. When asked if they had
committed any offence, the woman officer by the name of Thean
Siew Khin said no. When asked if they were under arrest, another
officer Ng Chee Wei also said no.
So why were they being
forced into this unmarked police van? None of the five police
officers in the van could answer them.
When asked where
the two were being taken, they said "your headquarters".
Ms Chee told them that her car was parked at Orchard Hotel and
asked to be let off. She realised that the police were taking
them to the former SDP headquarters along Serangoon Road.
After
spending some 40 minutes in the van, the police finally realised
that the SDP had moved out of the office in Serangoon Road. The
driver was then given instructions to send Ms Chee and Mr Tan
back to Orchard Hotel.
What right did the police have in
stopping Ms Chee and Mr Tan from heading to the Shangri-la Hotel
when other people were allowed to?
What right did the
police have in man-handling the both and forcing them into a
vehicle which was not even a police van (PA 2448J)?
Was it
legal for the police to take them to a place against their will
when they had not committed any offence?
Was this not a
form of illegal detention?
Citizens of Singapore are
supposed to be protected by the police. Instead Ms Chee and Mr
Tan were harassed, discriminated against, and held without any
reason.
(Video will be posted soon)
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