It’s been three weeks since the Hong Lim Park saga broke out, and seemingly looks to drag on for a considerable while. Somehow there is still a part of the drama missing from the public eyes. This final jigsaw piece to solve the whole puzzle has to be DSP Eric of Central Police Division.
His testimony may be the deciding factor. What do I base on? Well, take a look at the following sections 57 to 62 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC):
Unlawful assemblies
Who may order unlawful assembly to disperse
57.—(1) A police officer may command an unlawful assembly or an assembly of 5 or more people likely to cause a disturbance of the public peace to disperse, and the members of the assembly must then disperse.
(2) Nothing in this Division shall derogate from the powers conferred on any person under the Public Order Act 2009 (Act 15 of 2009).
As the presumably most senior police officer at scene, he can order HHH and gang to disperse, if there is ground to believe that it was an unlawful assembly.
Furthermore, if HHH and company had refused to comply with his order, the Code provided for him in Section 58 of the CPC, to engage the supposedly lawful assembly of the male participants at the YMCA event (including Teo Ser Luck) to assist him in exercising his police power:
When unlawful assembly may be dispersed by use of civil force
58.—(1) If any such assembly does not disperse as commanded, or shows a determination not to disperse, any police officer may disperse the assembly by force and, if necessary, arrest and confine the participants, and may require any male civilian to help.
(2) In this section, “civilian” means any person who is not a regular serviceman, full-time national serviceman or operationally ready national serviceman who has reported for service in the Singapore Armed Forces.
Of course, if the situation turns up to be too hot, even for him and his team of macho men to handle, this Act gives the police such unfettered power that they could summon the army, if so chosen:
Use of military force
59. If any such assembly cannot be otherwise dispersed and it is necessary for the public security that it should be dispersed, the Minister or the Commissioner of Police or a Deputy Commissioner of Police may cause it to be dispersed by military force.Minister or Commissioner of Police or Deputy Commissioner of Police may require any officer in command of troops to disperse unlawful assembly
60.—(1) When the Minister or the Commissioner of Police or a Deputy Commissioner of Police determines to disperse any such assembly by military force, he may require any commissioned or non-commissioned officer in command of any sailors, soldiers or airmen in the Singapore Armed Forces or in any visiting force lawfully present in Singapore to disperse the assembly by military force and to arrest and confine the persons forming part of it as the Minister or Commissioner of Police or the Deputy Commissioner of Police directs or as it may be necessary to arrest and confine in order to disperse the assembly or to have them punished according to law.
(2) Every such officer shall obey such requisition in such manner as he thinks fit, but in so doing he shall use as little force and do as little injury to person and property as is consistent with dispersing the assembly and arresting and confining those persons.
When commissioned officer may disperse unlawful assembly by military force
61. When the public security is manifestly endangered by any such assembly and when neither the Minister nor the Commissioner of Police nor a Deputy Commissioner of Police can be communicated with, any commissioned officer in the Singapore Armed Forces or in any visiting force lawfully present in Singapore may disperse such assembly by military force and may arrest and confine the persons forming part of it as it may be necessary to arrest and confine in order to disperse the assembly or to have them punished according to law, but if while he is acting under this section it becomes practicable for him to communicate with the Minister, the Commissioner of Police or a Deputy Commissioner of Police, he shall do so and thereafter obey the instructions of the Minister, the Commissioner of Police or the Deputy Commissioner of Police as to whether he shall or shall not continue the action.
Talking about having a piece of mind in carrying out one’s duties, all of the police and army personnel are well protected against repercussions in Section 62 of the CPC:
Protection against prosecution for acts done under this Division
62. No prosecution against the Minister or any police officer or officer, sailor, soldier or airman in the Singapore Armed Forces or in any visiting force lawfully present in Singapore for any act purporting to be done under this Division shall be instituted in any criminal court except with the sanction of the President, and —
(a) no police officer acting under this Division in good faith;
(b) no commissioned officer acting under section 61 in good faith;
(c) no person doing any act in good faith in compliance with a requisition under section 58 or 60; and
(d) no inferior officer, sailor, soldier or airman or member of any of the Singapore Armed Forces or of any visiting force lawfully present in Singapore doing any act in obedience to any order which under naval, military or air force law he was bound to obey, shall be deemed thereby to have committed an offence.
I am very sure as a very senior police officer, DSP Eric is au fait with the provisos of the CPC. Consequently, only two possible conclusions centering DSP Eric can be drawn:
1. If DSP Eric states that HHH and gang have committed an offence of unlawful assembly, then he has to be indicted for dereliction of duty, as he had failed to carry out his duty by exercising the police power conferred in the CPC, to order the dispersal of the said unlawful assembly; or
2. DSP Eric, supposedly well-versed in law, police power and authority, at the material time, did not have ground to believe that an offence of unlawful assembly has taken place, which made the current police investigation of unlawful assembly against HHH and company, a complete mockery.
What do you think?
I used to be in the Force