#FreeSingapore5 #FreeAnons #Anonymous

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	                                                      We Deliver...

On November 5th, 5 young men in Singapore were arrested for minor vandalism in support of Anonymous. First though, a little background on Anonymous and Singapore in 2013, or the "2013 Cyber-Attacks" as they are known in media circles. These events were a direct reaction to authoritarian measures introduced by the Singaporean government, in particular the "Internet-Licensing" rules introduced in June of 2013.

Under this licensing scheme, all "news" sites in Singapore have to pay a $39,550 bond to obtain a "license". This regulation obviously put a legal strangehold on smaller independant news sites and is one of many ways that the government attempts to retain control over a population that is incredibly connected and net savvy. Traditional media in Singapore are controlled by two companies, one financed by the government and the other that is generally acquiescent to the official line when dealing with any stories relating to the government.

As well as outdoor demonstrations against this and other government restrictions on freedoms, there were also a number of online actions against government websites, schools and banks, which eventually culminated in arrests.

This case needs to be viewed in the context of those arrests and the surrounding controversies over freedom and net regulation in Singapore.

Muhammad Qamarul Arifin Sa’adon, 22; Danial Ryan Salleh, 25; Muhammad Fitri Abu Kasim, 24; Muhamad Fadzly Aziz, 21; and Muhammad Redzwan Baskin, 26 all stand accused of crimes that in Singapore can carry a 3 year prison sentence and between 3 and 8 lashes from a cane.

Only in a country as authoritarian as Singapore would corporal punishment and years in prison seem a reasonable sentence for an act of civil disobedience that harmed nobody.

Anonymous is calling on the government of Singapore, and in particular K Shanmugam
(Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law), to free these young men and drop the charges against them.

What can you do to help?

You can use the #FreeSingapore5 hashtag on twitter to help highlight the details of this case, also #FreeAnons is a good catch all hashtag for legal cases relating to Anonymous.

You can make your opinions heard by voicing to the Singapore government twitter accounts your dismay at this unjust and inhumane method of dealing with dissent:

@govsingapore - The main Singapore government twitter account.

@MFAsg -  Official Twitter page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, the same Minister, K Shanmugam, also runs the Ministry for Law.

You can also e-mail K Shanmugam and explain to him why civil disobedience should never be met with corporal punishment:

k_shanmugam@mfa.gov.sg
k_shanmugam@mlaw.gov.sg

You can e-mail the Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, and ask that he personally take an interest in seeing that actual justice prevails and that these young men no longer face prison terms or brutal lashing:

lee_hsien_loong@pmo.gov.sg

We will be organizing a tweet storm in the lead up to the first court date, which is the 22nd of January, when the first group will appear, and again before February 12th, when the remaining young men have their day in court.

Do not expect us to forget about these Anons, this represents an injustice to us all.