Jolovan Wham is a Singaporean activist.[1][2][3] He has previously served as executive director of the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics.[4] The International Federation for Human Rights has stated that he has been the target of judicial harassment,[5] while Amnesty International have stated that "Singapore authorities have repeatedly sought to make an example of his activism to deter Singaporeans who might dare criticize the government."[6]
In March 2019, Singaporean authorities launched an investigation for illegal public assembly after he had posted a photo on social media of himself holding a sign calling for charges against the editors of The Online Citizen to be dropped.[7][8]
In March 2020, he was fined for contempt of court after having made a Facebook post the previous year criticising the lack of independence of Signapore's courts. After refusing to pay the fine, he was sentenced to a one-week jail term.[9]
In May 2020, he posted a letter of apology to Ministry of Manpower (Singapore)|Minister of Manpower Josephine Teo after she threatened to sue him over accusations of corruption.[10]
In November 2020, he was charged with illegal public assembly by Singaporean authorities after having held up a cardboard poster of a smiley-face outside of a police station in support of two climate activists who had been issued with summons for interrogation by police.[11][12][13]