I am writing on behalf of Gopalan Nair, an American citizen who
is currently forcibly detained by the Singapore government for
exercising his right to freedom of speech.
On May 29th, 2008, Mr. Nair published a blog entry criticizing
Singapore judge Belinda Ang’s biased handling of the high-profile
case of democratic activist Dr. Chee Soon Juan v. authoritarian
former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, during which she favored Lee
and denied the defendant, Dr. Chee, a fair trial. In response to
Nair’s criticism of the judge on his blog, Singapore government
officials arrested him on May 31 at the hotel where he was staying.
He had been in Singapore since May 26th, and, prior to his arrest,
had expected to return to his home in the United States on the
third of June.
It is clear that Mr. Nair did not send Judge Belinda Ang any
e-mails. He has stated that there was no need for him to do so, as
he had expressed his opinion about Ang’s actions on his blog, and
did not have any desire to contact her personally. Rather, the
Singapore government arrested him on an insubstantial charge of
sending fantastical ‘threatening emails’ to a judge so that they
could have an excuse to detain him. The Singapore government is
keeping him in their custody and purposefully denying him the right
to a speedy trial as they know that he has only American
citizenship and cannot support himself financially on Singaporean
soil; meanwhile, his work is being neglected in the U.S. On the
Fourth of July they publicly escalated their aggression towards
him; they sent plainclothes officers after him, who physically
assualted him after he did not give them his name because he did
not recognize them to be police. He is innocent of the official
charges against him; as for the “crime” of criticising the
government, yes, Mr. Nair is is guilty of that, but it also happens
that his actions were protected under not only the United States
Constitution, but also that of Singapore.
If the critic is not a Singapore national, the government of
Singapore often dismisses their words as “foreign interference.”
Nair was born in Singapore but has relinquished his Singaporean
citizenship and is an American citizen only. About this
characterization of Nair’s criticism, a cyber-activist based in
Singapore who for his own safety goes by the name Singa Crew has
this to say: “I for one do not consider his criticism to be
‘foreign interference’. How could it be ‘foreign interference’ when
the Singapore government routinely cite this and that award given
by international bodies? Was it ‘foreign inteference’ only when
criticism instead of praise was offered?” The government is here
exposed as being duplicitous and dishonest in its treatment of
dissidents, and never more so than when the protest comes from a
citizen of a country that has leverage in Singapore, a nation that
Singapore does business with, a nation whose presentation Singapore
tries to imitate and make into a façade to show the world.
Singapore––a nation that is considered to be first-world––has
carefully cultivated an image of freedom and progressiveness, but
the practical reality is that Singapore’s government is
authoritarian and resistant to popular sovereignty, and as such it
censures anyone who advocates democracy and greater freedom; in the
process of censuring these individuals, it uses corrupt and
unconstitutional procedures; when someone, such as Nair, points out
the unfairness of the proceedings, he or she is penalized as
well.
The United States is part of a collection of Western nations
that value democratic ideals and civil liberties. Although the
issue of how and when our government should intervene in cases of
human rights abuses is a hotly contested one, it is fair to say in
this particular instance that, as the Singapore administration is
not following its own constitution, Singapore is a developed,
capitalist, modern nation with which the United States has
influence and ties, and Mr. Nair is an American citizen, the United
States can and should intervene on his behalf, and on the behalf of
advocates of freedom and democracy everywhere. The activist known
as Singa Crew has said, “Mr Nair is a true son of Singapore and
America because he lives up to the ideals of justice and freedom
enshrined in both the Singapore and American constitutions.”
Whatever your stance as regards the amount of sovereignty
Singapore should have over its people, Mr. Nair is an American
citizen, and as such is entitled to all of the rights that the
United States’ jurisdiction in Singapore may provide. It is the
request of myself, and believers in freedom everywhere, that
Gopalan Nair come home to the States as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Amelia Fedo