A LAW that was passed six months ago to empower the police to deal with disruptive behaviour in public places has been invoked.
The police confirmed to The Straits Times yesterday that they arrested a man on Wednesday under the Public Order Act for violating a 'move-on' order after he defied several police warnings.
The man, Chua Eng Chwee, 69, and a Falun Gong practitioner, was arrested while staging a protest with eight placards under the Esplanade Bridge.
The police had earlier issued him with a written move-on order, but Chua defied this and subsequent warnings, said the police spokesman.
The Public Order Act, which was passed in April, enables the police to issue orders to compel a person to move on and refrain from returning to the designated spot for 24 hours.
These orders, modelled after similar measures in Australia, aim to allow the police to prevent the commission or escalation of an offence without having to arrest the offender.
(Straits Times, October 16, 2009)
Original text from: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_442930.html
