During his graduation ceremony, a National University of Singapore (NUS) student was reported to have held up a piece of paper with an anti-death penalty message.
"The police confirm that a report was filed and are investigating the incident," they told TODAY in response to questions.
They did not specify who or when the report was made.
Since it was published on July 11, the student's Twitter postings detailing his actions have been shared more than 900 times and earned 2,270 likes.
Mr. Luke Levy, 25, a geography major, stated in a series of tweets that he unfurled a "sign" from the pocket of his graduation robe, stepped on stage, posed for a photo of himself getting a scroll of his degree on stage, then exited the stage with the "sign" in hand.
On Twitter, he tweeted a photo of the "sign," which was a piece of paper with the words "Abolish the death penalty" printed in black. No to official murder. To eliminate poverty, not life. "You have blood on your hands,"
Mr. Levy mentioned in his article that the commencement ceremony occurred "about the time of Kalwant Singh's final request for his life before execution."
In June 2016, Malaysian Kalwant Singh was convicted and sentenced to death for heroin trafficking. On July 6, he failed in his final effort to halt his execution in Singapore. On July 7, the 31-year-old was hung.
Mr. Levy asserted that his trip across the stage with the printed notification was deleted from the YouTube video of the event uploaded by NUS. He further alleged that the message he displayed was edited from the official photograph he purchased of the commencement ceremony.
Mr. Levy is the co-founder of Students for a Safer NUS, a student-led effort that aims to educate the student body on how to respond to sexual assault so that impacted students do not have to rely only on institutional help.
Ms. Jessica Cheung, senior associate at Edmond Pereira Law Corporation, stated that based on Mr. Levy's behavior of holding up the paper with the written message, he might be prosecuted under Section 16 of the Public Order Act if his identity is confirmed.
Section 16 stipulates that anybody who intentionally holds a public assembly or public procession without a permission is subject to a punishment of up to S$5,000.
The laws in this jurisdiction describe a public assembly as a gathering whose objective is to exhibit support for or opposition to the opinions or acts of any group of people or government, to publicize a cause or campaign, or to remember an event.
Unlike public processions, public assemblies permit single-person demonstrations.
Ms. Cheung stated, "Under the Public Order Act, a public place includes any location to which the general public has access by right or by virtue of express or implied permissions, and, more importantly, whether or not access to the location may be restricted at specific times or for specific purposes.
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