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15 Falungong Activists Arrested by Singapore Police
The Singapore police have arrested 15 Falungong activists for holding an illegal assembly on Sunday after they had defied orders to disperse peacefully, local leading English newspaper the Straits Times reported Tuesday.
About 60 members of the group, dressed in yellow tee-shirts, had gathered near a carpark at the Macritche reservoir at 7:30 p.m. to hold a memorial service allegedly for dead overseas members, according to the paper.
An eyewitness to the event called the police and police officers advised the Falungong members to leave quietly because they were holding an assembly without a permit as required by law, the paper said.
But the members of the Falungong group refused to leave and even blocked the officers from carrying out their duties and finally 15 members, including six women, were arrested, the paper said, quoting a police spokesman as saying that "in handling this incident, the police exercised a lot of patience."
The police spokesman was also quoted as adding that the members were arrested only after they defied repeated requests and warnings.
Of those arrested, two are Singaporeans, and at least four are permanent residents. Five of them were detained for holding a similar illegal gathering in October.
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