By Goh Chin Lian
THREE men who wore T-shirts depicting a kangaroo dressed in
judge's robes were sentenced to jail for contempt of court on
Thursday, after they refused to apologise for their actions.
Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) assistant secretary-general
John Tan Liang Joo, 47, was sentenced to 15 days in jail.
Activist Isrizal Mohamed Isa, 33, and full-time national
serviceman Muhammad Shafi'ie Syahmi Sariman, 20, were each
sentenced to seven days in jail.
Justice Judith Prakash also ordered each of them to pay $5,000
in costs to the Attorney-General's Chambers, as well as other
expenses it incurred during the proceedings.
But the trio are not starting their jail terms immediately.
Justice Prakash gave time for Isrizal to settle his personal
affairs and Shafi'ie to complete his basic military training.
They are to surrender themselves on Dec 12.
Tan, who told the court he is considering an appeal, was given
until Dec 18, after he said he was considering an appeal to start
serving his jail term.
In sentending the three, Justice Prakash - who found the trio in
contempt of court at a hearing on Monday - noted that they did not
apologise and withdraw the insinuations they made about the courts
when they were given the opportunity to do so.
'The fact that none of you have shown any contrition, but
maintained what you did was justified and fair criticism when it
was not fair criticism - and I will explain in my judgement why it
was not fair criticism - I think there is no alternative in this
case but to impose a sentence of incarceration,' she said.
Her decision came after a one-day hearing on Monday.
The Attorney-General's Chambers initiated contempt of court
proceedings against the men for having 'scandalised the Singapore
Judiciary by publicly wearing identical white T-shirts, imprinted
with a palm-sized picture of a kangaroo dressed in a judge's gown,
within and in the vicinity of the New Supreme Court Building'.
They wore the T-shirts between May 26 and May 28 at the Supreme
Court.
This was when they were at hearings where Justice Belinda Ang
assessed defamation damages that the SDP, its leader Chee Soon Juan
and his sister Chee Siok Chin had to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
On Monday, Deputy Solicitor-General Jeffrey Chan sought a stiff
jail terms for the trio, saying that the worst insult someone can
level against the judicial system is to call it a kangaroo
court.
This is generally understood to mean a court that is
characterised by unauthorised or irregular procedures, or sham and
unfair legal proceedings.
Mr Chan said the men's refusal to apologise reaffirmed their
contempt of court. He urged Justice Prakash to pass a sentence that
would denounce such a show of contempt and deter others from acting
in the same way.
