End ‘harassment’ of activists, HRW urges Singapore

SINGAPORE: Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Singapore should end harassment of peaceful activists after participants at a candlelight vigil for a man facing execution were stopped from leaving the country.

On July 13, around a dozen people, including opponents of the death penalty and relatives of Prabagaran Srivijayan, 22, attended the vigil outside Changi Prison in support of the man, who was to be hanged early the next morning.

Prabagaran, who was executed on July 14, was convicted of trafficking 22.4g of heroin.

During the vigil, participants said they were approached by police and told that a police report had been filed and that they were to remove the candles.

The police removed the candles and photographs of Prabagaran but the participants say they were not asked to disperse.

A police statement on Saturday said 17 people are under investigation relating to whether they had been involved in an illegal assembly.

Among those at the vigil were a journalist, who is an activist against capital punishment, an editor of independent online blog “Online Citizen” and a filmmaker.

The three said in social media postings that they had been prevented from leaving the country, and had been told that they were required to stay in Singapore to assist police with an investigation.

“The government should end its harassment of activists campaigning against capital punishment and respect their rights to freedom of expression,” HRW said. – Reuters