White Paper on repression in Singapore
circulated worldwide
Friday, 06 November 2009 00:15
Singapore Democrats
A White Paper written by law firm Amsterdam
& Peroff about repression in Singapore is receiving extensive
attention across the world. More than 160 online media
organisations and news agencies have picked up the press release of
the White Paper.
Entitled:
The Repression of Political Freedoms in Singapore: The Case of
Opposition Leader Dr. Chee Soon Juan, the document traces the
years of oppressive measures taken by the PAP to silence its
critics in Singapore.
Mr Robert
Amsterdam, a prominent international human rights lawyer as well as
an expert in corporate disputes, spearheaded the
project.
The press release was picked up by major news organisations like
MSN (which boasts of 25 million visitors a day),
AOL (18 million),
National Examiner (half a million) and
Reuters (quarter million).
Apart from these giant news networks, the statement was also
featured by global investment and trade organisations like
Forbes,
Breitbart, EuroInvestor
and
Bizjournals.
The news was, perhaps, carried most extensively in the US by scores
of local news networks all across the country. From Boise,
Idaho to El Paso,
Texas; from Tucson,
Arizona to Spokane,
Washington; from Reno, Nevada
to Shreveport,
Louisiana website after website featured the news. Even Honolulu
carried the statement.
All in all, an
incredible 160 news websites, big and small, published the press
release. Many of these media outlets are affiliates of major TV
networks like ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC.
Because of the upcoming APEC meeting many of the websites posted
the news on its business and money sections.
The statement talks about the Government's use of "unconstitutional
domestic laws" to silence dissent and highlights the recently
passed Public Order Act that has "consolidated further the
authority of the ruling PAP over the political opposition."
The release also mentions the judiciary and media. It says that the
threat of defamation and libel suits have "created a climate for
the suppression of political freedoms."
It also calls for APEC leaders to meet with civil society and
opposition leaders in Singapore, for ASEAN to establish a viable
human rights commission, and for charges against Dr Chee and
colleagues to be dropped.
Robert Amsterdam
Mr Amsterdam met Dr Chee when he attended the International Bar
Association conference held in Singapore in 2007. The IBA
subsequently published a paper that was critical of the judicial
and legal systems in Singapore.
The lawyer had gone to the Istana where Dr Chee was protesting
against Singapore's investments and arms deals with the military
regime in Burma.
The London-based Canadian lawyer agreed to become the SDP's and Dr
Chee's lawyer in 2008 and has assisted the parties in their
on-going trials in Singapore courts.
Mr Amsterdam's clients include Russian oil tycoon Mikhail
Khodorkovsky who has been in jail for the last six years for
supporting the Russia's opposition.
Mr Amsterdam writes a high-profile blog here.
http://www.yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/3025-white-paper-on-repression-in-singapore-circulated-worldwide