Singaporean court allows Indian-origin woman charged for holding pro-Palestine protest to visit grandparents in Kerala

Singapore, Jul 1 (PTI) A court here on Monday allowed an Indian-origin Singaporean woman, who was charged with organising a pro-Palestine procession without a permit, to leave the country to visit her grandparents in Kerala.

Annamalai Kokila Parvathi, 35, had organised the procession in February with two others to show support for the Palestinian cause without a permit. A permit from the authority for holding a procession is mandatory according to the law here.

Parvathi, who is currently on bail, had applied for permission to go to Kerala to visit her grandparents there, The Straits Times newspaper reported.

District Judge Lorraine Ho granted the application for Parvathi to leave the jurisdiction, imposing several additional conditions, including an additional bail of SGD10,000, the report said.

Parvathi, along with two others, was charged on June 27 with one count of abetment of organising a public procession in a prohibited area under the Public Order Act. She was on bail of SGD 5,000.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sunil Nair said Parvathi did not demonstrate the urgency of the travel, but that the prosecution was not rejecting the application because the travel booking was made before the charges were tendered. He asked for additional bail of SGD 10,000, saying that a higher bail amount was sought as she was assessed to be of moderate flight risk, without adding details.

Singapore strictly regulates protests, and public demonstrations advocating causes of other countries are not allowed. The war in Gaza has been a particularly sensitive issue for the city-state that has a significant Muslim population and also maintains a close relationship with Israel.

Though the authorities have urged Singaporeans not to stage protests on the issue and instead participate in dialogues and donation drives, there has been deep concern about the war and some Singaporeans, particularly younger ones, have been vocal in expressing their views online and desiring to make themselves heard.