A Facebook post put up on Friday, Dec. 8, accusing the Singapore police of using excessive force while raiding unlicensed brothels at Rowell Road, has been removed.

Rebuttal

This was following two consecutive rebuttals issued on Dec. 9 and 10, by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, in response to the post.

Dec. 9

• Expressed support for the police in their recent raids on illegal brothels.

• A response to online comments suggesting police should not have broken down doors and wore masks.

• Explained that the police wear masks to hide their identities, as the syndicates behind these illegal brothels might retaliate.

• Urge the public not to allow sympathy for the victims to colour the views of what the police should do.

Dec. 10

• An explanation as to why unjustified attacks made against the police should be rebutted, as these do a huge disservice to the officers in blue who put their lives at risk to keep Singapore safe.

• Shared more details of the raid.

• Raid carried out in response to complaints about sex workers in the Rowell Road area.

• Woman who made the allegations against the police told to report the matter formally and be subjected to questioning.

What happened

The original Facebook post on Friday, Dec. 8, featured three videos and one photo.

They showed the police raiding brothels in Rowell Road, located in the Jalan Besar area.

The post was put up by Vanessa Ho, who is with Project X, a volunteer outreach group that protects sex workers’ rights.

The post mentioned the use of battering rams, sledgehammers and cutting devices to break down the doors of the brothels.

Ho also wrote: "This is what your taxpayers money are put to: groups of armed men terrorizing women."

Even after Shanmugam's first rebuttal Facebook post appeared on Dec. 9, Ho's post stayed up and a follow-up update was posted, with more allegations made against the police.

The update to Ho's post was made on Saturday, Dec. 9, evening:

Shanmugam's second post was put up on Dec. 10, at 6pm.

Ho's post was no longer visible on Sunday.

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More details about the Rowell Road raids

According to the police, 22 people were arrested on Friday after the police conducted multiple raids on illegal brothels near Rowell Road.

The police said in a statement on Saturday that "officers had to use necessary force to gain access into units that were locked".

The suspects, who are work pass holders, have allegedly made use of their stay in Singapore to commit vice-related offences.

Investigations are ongoing.

Shanmugam said in his Dec. 10 Facebook post that there had been complaints of sex workers in the area, with a syndicate seemingly in operation.

He revealed that observations showed there were lookouts deployed, and there was the concern that the syndicate was exploiting underage youngsters.

Among those eventually arrested was a 16-year-old underage male sex worker.

One person had injured himself while trying to escape during the raid.

Many of those arrested were transgender sex workers, Shanmugam revealed.

Top photo via K Shanmugam Facebook