(AFP) – Aug 21, 2008

SINGAPORE (AFP) — A Singapore opposition leader and six other activists have been charged over protests during IMF-World Bank meetings almost two years ago, one of them said Friday, just days after the prime minister called for a ban on outdoor demonstrations to be eased.

Chee Soon Juan, secretary general of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), and his sister and fellow party member Chee Siok Chin have been charged along with five others, Chee Siok Chin told AFP.

The charges were read when the accused appeared in court Thursday, she said.

They related to the distribution of flyers ahead of the 2006 International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings and to a public procession allegedly conducted without a permit during the meetings, she told AFP.

Under Singapore law, any public protest of at least five people without a permit is deemed illegal, meaning demonstrations seldom occur.

Chee's applications for a permit during the meetings were denied. He engaged in a three-day standoff with police who stopped him from marching to the conference venue after he delivered a speech at Speakers' Corner, a government-designated free speech area.

He said he was protesting against poverty and restrictions on free speech.

In his key annual policy address televised on Monday night, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the city-state should ease its ban on political videos and outdoor demonstrations as part of a gradual liberalisation of society.

"We have to move away from this total ban and find ways for people to let off steam a little bit more, but safely," Lee said, calling for demonstrations to be allowed at Speakers' Corner.

The government created the Speakers' Corner as an outdoor venue for political speeches in 2000, although Lee said it does not attract many speakers.

They must register with police and abide by a list of rules which forbid discussion of religion or topics that might provoke racial tension.

Multi-racial Singapore has bitter memories of deadly riots more than 40 years ago. Lee said demonstrators would still have to keep away from race, language and religious topics.

Chee Siok Chin told AFP the activists were campaigning "for free speech and assembly" and did not want to be restricted to specific locations.

She said one of the seven accused pleaded guilty on Thursday.

The cases of the other six are to be mentioned in court again on September 3, she said.

If convicted, they face a maximum fine of 1,000 Singapore dollars (712 US) on each charge.

Singapore's leaders say tough laws against dissent and other political activity are necessary to ensure the stability which has helped the city-state achieve economic success.

Police on Friday referred inquiries about the charges to the courts, where nobody was immediately available for comment.

Asked why the charges have been laid almost two years after the protests, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Chambers, the government's legal adviser, declined comment. "We do not discuss details," said Han Ming Kuang.

"It's almost as if they were hanging on... until they got an instruction from somewhere," Chee Siok Chin said.

Chee Soon Juan is one of the few Singaporeans who have publicly spoken against the People's Action Party which has ruled since 1959. He has been jailed repeatedly for defying laws against protests and refusing to pay fines.

His party has no seats in parliament.

The Chee siblings spent several days in jail in June for contempt of court over their behaviour during a defamation case filed by the prime minister and his father, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who is still a powerful cabinet member.

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