A Spanish couple have been detained after the man held a banner to protest against Peter Lim, the billionaire Singaporean owner of Valencia football club.
Dani Cuesta had shared photos on social media of himself holding a sign that said “Lim go home” at various locations in Singapore, including the residences where Lim reportedly lives and the tourist landmark Merlion Park.
Singapore has some of the world’s strictest rules around protests, even for demonstrations that involve only one person.
Police said the couple were assisting investigations over the alleged offence of taking part in a public assembly under section 16(2) of the Public Order Act 2009, which is punishable with a fine of up to S$3,000 (£1,750) for first-time offenders. Their passports were impounded.
Cuesta had posted on X that the couple were on their honeymoon, and planned to travel onwards to Bali, taking their “Lim go home” sign with them.
Lim, a former stockbroker, was seen by many as a saviour of Valencia when he took over the club in 2014, at a time when it was in crisis and debt-ridden, but any hopes he could restore the club to its former glory have long faded. Fans, angered at the club’s declining performance and continued financial problems – and at Lim’s perceived lack of interest in its fate – have repeatedly protested against him at the Mestalla Stadium.
Protests in Singapore, however, are far more tightly controlled. There is only one location in the city state – Speakers’ Corner, in Hong Lim Park – where citizens are allowed to hold protests without first obtaining a police permit, though they must still apply to the national park authorities. Non-Singaporean citizens are required to secure a police permit.
Singapore’s government says these rules are necessary to maintain law and order, though rights groups say they are used to stifle dissent and free speech.
Singaporean police said in a statement: “The police confirm that a police report was lodged against a 34-year-old Spanish man and a 30-year-old Spanish woman. They are assisting with investigations for the alleged offence of taking part in a public assembly under section 16(2) of the Public Order Act 2009. The passports of the two subjects have been impounded while investigations are ongoing.”
In 2020 the activist Jolovan Wham was charged with unlawful assembly after he held a sign bearing a smiley face as part of a one-man protest in support of two climate activists. He later received what amounted to an acquittal, but was fined S$3,000 over a separate protest in which he briefly held a sign calling for defamation charges against an editor of a news website to be dropped. He served 15 days in prison for refusing to pay the fine.
