The Libertad VCF association, opposed to the management of Singaporean businessman Peter Lim at the head of Valencia, denounced this Monday the retention since last Friday of two fans of the Mestalla club in Singapore and linked it to a previous protest at the doors of the house of the investor and demanded his “immediate release” in addition to the intervention of “the political and diplomatic authorities.”
This is a couple who had taken advantage of their wedding trip to visit Singapore. One of the two fans, Dani Cuesta, posted a photo of himself with a banner with the motto on his social media accounts last week. Lim Go Home and a Lim Out sticker with the same message placed in front of a building that identified it as a property of the businessman and one of his residences.
In your X account (former Twitter), in which he shows off his Valencian fans and his opposition to the management of the club’s owner, Dani Cuesta shows images of himself in various spaces in the city state with his banner Lim Go Homewhich can be seen in a good part of the stands of the Mestalla state when the team plays. He himself explains that after their stay in Singapore, the couple was going to go to Bali.
Héctor Gómez, the journalist of Sports Tribune who advanced the news and who is in contact with Cuesta, explains in his account of X that the two Valencians “They took their passports and kept them in a hotel without leaving.” “Tomorrow (this Friday) at 3:30 p.m. there they have to testify WITHOUT KNOWING what they are accused of. Take a photo with a banner Lim go home and put a sticker on the door of your house that said Lim out It’s all the ‘crime’ committed PS: I can’t give more details because it depends on people who are very scared but this is an outrage. This is Singapore.”
Singapore is a city-state with a strict judicial system that fines, for example, with the payment of 400 Singapore dollars (about 307 euros), “crossing the streets in unauthorized places, especially roads with heavy motor vehicle traffic.” “, as indicated the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on its travel recommendations website. In the Others section, related to prohibitions, the ministry indicates: “Public demonstrations and exhibitions are strictly prohibited without prior authorization from the Government. The Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs explains on the next page the requirements and restrictions, regulated through the Public Order Actto organize and take part in demonstrations.”
In 2015, a court in the city-state sentenced two young Germans to nine months in prison and three lashes for accessing private property and painting graffiti on one of the convoys of the country’s railway network, according to information from EL COUNTRY.
“Singapore is one of the safest countries in the world, with extensive surveillance that is usually discreet but exists at all levels, including the numerous cameras deployed throughout the city that allow rapid reconstruction of the events and the identification of the active subjects of punishable acts,” indicates the Ministry. The GDP per capita of the country of 5.6 million inhabitants and of only 728 square kilometers rose to €82,244 euros in 2023, which places it in number 6 in the ranking of 196 countries in the ranking in this section. .
Sources close to these fans assured EFE that they were detained when they were preparing to leave the country and were taken back to the hotel where they had stayed, where according to this information their passport was taken away and where they had to pay for four more nights of stay. hotel. Both fans have probably been denounced by someone in the Asian country for their protests.
Abuse
In a statement Libertad VCF expressed its solidarity with those detained and assured that they are “for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression” and demanded “the immediate intervention of the political and diplomatic authorities of Spain to protect the rights, freedoms, integrity and dignity” of the detained people.
Libertad VCF describes the situation as “abuse” and assures that “it is orchestrated by Peter Lim”, an action that they claim makes their “relations” with Valencian institutions “absolutely incompatible” with Valencian society.
“It is essential to remember that they are in the custody of a State that is among the main violators of human rights worldwide, which increases the risk for them and demands an urgent response from our institutions,” the letter points out.
The PSOE spokesperson in the Valencia City Council, Borja Sanjuán, described the situation as “atrocious” on social networks and asked to “enforce” the rights of both people and said that he hopes that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “is working to help them as much as possible.” as soon as possible.”
