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Hong Kong women’s march called off after police meetings: organisers

Hong Kong’s Women Workers’ Association cancelled an authorised protest for women’s rights, citing pressure from the police. The group had received authorisation to hold a demonstration but cancelled abruptly after police asked to meet with them. Police denied pressuring the group, but anyone participating in the protest would have been in violation of unlawful assembly laws, they said. Beijing’s national security law effectively ended public demonstrations and protests in Hong Kong, with group gatherings banned for over two years due to pandemic restrictions.

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2 years ago

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HONG KONG, CHINA — A Hong Kong women’s rights group said Wednesday it had called off what would have been a rare authorised protest after its representatives had been summoned numerous times for meetings with the police.

The Hong Kong Women Workers’ Association (HKWWA) had been granted authorisation to hold a demonstration on 5 March, but then abruptly cancelled the night before, offering no reason.

On Wednesday, the group said “police asked to meet us a number of times” after it received approval for the march.

“The action was in the first place granted a letter of no objection by the police,” HKWWA said in a statement.

“The association tried its best to amend the agreement with the police in order to make the action take place. However, the result was not what we had hoped for.

“We could not hold the march and rally for women to speak out.”

Asked by AFP if they had pressured the HKWWA, police said at a 4 March press conference that they “respect the decision of the organisers”.

Hong Kong previously saw frequent public demonstrations and protests, but those came to an end after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020 to stamp out widespread, and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests.

Group gatherings were also banned for more than two years under protracted pandemic restrictions that started to be relaxed at the end of 2022.

After the HKWWA cancelled the women’s march, police said that anyone taking part would be considered in violation of unlawful assembly laws.

According to the organisers, “groups and citizens who supported us were also pressured and warned”.

Those appear to have included the leftist League of Social Democrats, which said its members were threatened with arrest by national security police if they joined the march.

The HKWWA vowed on International Women’s Day, to continue fighting for gender equality and women’s labour rights.

“Our only choice is to continue and persevere: solidarity, mutual assistance, speaking out.”

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

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1 year ago

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

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1 year ago

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25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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