Falun Gong members on trial in Singapore
| December 1, 2004 |
| By AP |
|
Two members of the Falun Gong spiritual group were on trial in Singapore Wednesday, charged with unlawful assembly and handing out VCDs without licenses.
The group, banned in China as an “evil cult,” is legal in Singapore. But members must comply with the city-state’s strict rules, which require a police permit for outdoor gatherings of more than four people. Falun Gong members worldwide often protest Chinese authorities’ alleged mistreatment of fellow practitioners. In Singapore, small groups frequently gather downtown to meditate and hand leaflets to passers-by. The Straits Times newspaper reported Wednesday that two women, Cheng Lu Jin, 37, and Ng Chye Huay, 39, face charges of unlawful assembly and handing out VCDs without a license. Their nationalities were not given. Seng Cheng Joo told Singapore’s Subordinate Court on Tuesday that she called police on Feb. 23, 2003 when she saw 10 Falun Gong members, all women in yellow T-shirts, the newspaper said. “Some were meditating and some were handing out flyers in front of a poster with the Chinese characters of Falun Gong on it,” the report quoted Seng as saying. The trial started Tuesday and continued Wednesday, with the public gallery packed with Falun Gong supporters. Forty more members waited outside. A person convicted of participating in an unlawful assembly can be fined up to 1,000 Singapore dollars (US$611), according to online material from the Attorney-General’s Chambers. Handing out VCDs without a license is punishable by a fine of US $6,111 and a jail term or up to 1 year, the attorney general’s Web site said. |