Chee Soon Juan and 20 others stage protest outside Parliament House
By Hasnita A Majid, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 15 March 2008 2355 hrs

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SINGAPORE : Police have confirmed that a group of 20 people wearing red T-shirts staged a protest outside the Parliament House on Saturday afternoon.

In a statement, the police said the group, which included Singapore Democratic Party's (SDP) Chee Soon Juan, chanted slogans and displayed placards.

Police added that Chee and his group ignored repeated warnings to stop the unlawful assembly. After Parliament House, they staged a protest march towards Funan Digitalife Mall.

The group was given a final warning by the police to stop the protest march or face arrest. Chee and 11 others defied the police warning and were eventually stopped in front of Funan Digitalife Mall.

Five placards were seized from them. Police officers faced resistance from some of the members of the group who struggled and locked their arms together. Police equipment including, a police radio set was damaged.

One of the protesters, Chee Siok Chin, tried to bite a female police officer when the latter tried to arrest her.

Police added that this was not Chee's first attempt to stage unlawful demonstration. But this latest incident "saw an escalation in the level of defiance" because for the first time, the group "staged typical militant protest methods of locking arms to resist arrest."

The police statement went on to say that "the attack by Chee Siok Chin is also unprecedented and police are investigating into the matter."

Police said Chee had earlier applied for a police permit to hold a protest rally. But this "was an empty gesture, as a subsequent posting on SDP's website indicated that SDP intended to proceed with the rally on March 15 at 2pm even though a permit was not obtained".

Police reiterated that no one is above the law. The law applies equally to all, whether local or foreigners and it will apply no less to Chee. - CNA /ls