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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Rebecca Ratcliffe South-East Asia correspondent

Kokila Annamalai, the first activist in Singapore to defy its ‘stifling’ online speech laws

Kokila Annamalai speaking at an anti death penalty protest at Speakers' Corner at Hong Lim Park 3 April 2022.
Kokila Annamalai speaking at an anti death penalty protest at Speakers' Corner at Hong Lim Park 3 April 2022. Photograph: Transformative Justice Collective

Kokila Annamalai, a prominent Singaporean activist, has spent years supporting death row inmates and their families as they fight to avoid execution. So, when she was ordered by the government to share a “correction” on social media that countered criticisms she had made of Singapore’s laws, and accused death row inmates of “abusing” the justice system, she felt compelled to take a stand.

“Death row prisoners are one of the most voiceless and powerless people in our society, and the courts are such a powerful institution,” she says.

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