Activist jailed for 3 days after refusing to pay full fine

Local activist Goh Keow Wah, better known as Gilbert Goh, who was fined $3,200 yesterday for offences including taking part in a protest without a permit, will spend three days behind bars after the court heard that he will not be paying the full sum.

Goh, 61, was earlier convicted of one count of refusing to sign a police statement, as well as an offence under the Public Order Act.

He was fined $2,000 yesterday for taking part in a public assembly to publicise a cause without a permit outside the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) Building in Kallang Road on May 1 last year.

He was also fined $1,200 for refusing to sign a statement which he later gave to the police.

But, following the sentencing, defence lawyer Lim Tean told Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan that his client would pay only the $2,000 fine.

Goh opted to serve the default jail term of three days for his other offence.

During last year's assembly, Goh carried a placard that read, "Please ban all flights from India we are not racist! Just being cautious", and later posted pictures of his activity on Facebook.

His protest took place a week after Singapore barred all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors who had been in India in the past 14 days from entering or transiting here due to a surge in Covid-19 cases in India at the time.

The court heard that Goh had refused to sign the statement recorded by a police officer at the Bedok Police Division on May 11 last year.

In their submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutors Andre Chong and Yohanes Ng stated that by raising the placard near the ICA Building, Goh was plainly publicising a cause.

The prosecutors added: "The accused admitted that he knew that it was a requirement to apply for a police permit. He conceded that he did not bother applying for one.

"His claim that he would not have been given one if he had applied is purely speculative and, in any event, irrelevant."

The prosecutors also said that his subsequent Facebook posts were illustrative of his motive for staging the protest.

They added: "A plain reading of the contents of his Facebook posts, which were sensationalist and provocative, shows that he intended by his actions to stir up anti-foreigner sentiment."

According to court documents, Goh's Facebook post dated May 22 last year had the caption: "Stop Singaporean genocide close the border." It was superimposed over a photo of his protest.