Singapore's Political Judges
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Singapore state owned and controlled newspapers report that Dr.
Chee Soon Juan, Secretary General of the Singapore Democratic
Party, an opposition political party and Mr. Yap Keng Ho, an
opposition political activist are being tried in Court No. 7,
Subordinate Courts Singapore.
This is the second of a series of 8 related charges against them,
on having violated an inappropriately worded legislation, Public
Entertainments Act, which requires a permit for anyone who wishes
to speak in public in Singapore. The charges relate to Dr. Chee and
Mr. Yap asking passers by in Woodlands MRT to buy a copy of the
newspaper The Singapore Democrat which is the official newspaper
of Dr. Chee's political party.
The Judge is Jusvender Kaur.
But even though the Singapore state owned and controlled newspapers
say this, what is happening in Court No. 7 is not a trial at all.
It is a complete farce, a mockery of justice, a theatrical
performance. Court No. 7 is actually a classroom. A classroom in
which the teacher, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew is teaching Dr. Chee and Mr.
Yap a lesson.
That lesson is that Singaporeans should not ever criticize him or
his government. And since these 2 individuals had the temerity and
gall to do it, they must be punished. And they will be punished.
And the punishment will be meted out by his agent, Judge Jusvender
Kaur who is presiding in Court No. 7, who has been commissioned to
carry out the dirty work.
And Mr. Lee Kuan Yew wants this lesson to be learnt not only by
these 2 individuals who were, in his opinion, stupid enough to
challenge him; but by all of Singapore. The moral of the drama
which will conclude soon with both Dr. Chee and Mr. Yap going to
jail, is for all Singaporeans to fully understand that if any of
you are so silly as to go about criticizing Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, he
will release his attack dog, Judge Jusvender Kaur upon you. So
beware.
I am going to tell you this. Judge Jusvender Kaur has already made
up her mind to convict these 2 men even before she had ever stepped
into the courtroom the first day. It does not matter what the
evidence is, these 2 men will be convicted anyway. They are the 2
sacrificial lambs going to the slaughter because they have offended
Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.
Judge Jusvender Kaur in this perversion is not a judge at all. She
has now adopted the role of a PAP politician. And as an enforcer
for Lee Kuan Yew, it is her duty to polish off these 2 men because
that is what Mr. Lee Kuan Yew wants. She will do anything that he
wants, since the whole exercise here is not to seek justice. It is
political work. The purpose is to demolish Lee's political
opponents.
This is what is happening in the courts of Lee Kuan Yew's self
proclaimed first world country.
I had earlier written a post on the movie Judgment at Nuremburg
about Nazi judges being tried at the Nuremburg war crimes trials in
1948 after the war. Please refer to the post: Judgement at
Nuremburg and the trials in Singapore Courts. The reader will see
the similarities. As in the Feldenstein case in Judgment at
Nuremburg, it really did not matter whether the old Jew had defiled
the 16 year old German girl. No, that did not matter at all. What
mattered was that Feldenstien must be punished not for anything he
did but simply because he was a Jew.
Just as in Dr. Chee's case, it does not matter if in fact the
evidence was in his favor. No, that does not form part of the
equation at all. What matters is that Dr. Chee was bold enough to
publicly criticize none other that Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. That alone, in
Singapore of today, demands punishment. And Jusvender Kaur has been
commissioned to carry that out.
I am of course speaking as if the trial is over and the Judge had
delivered her verdict, even though the trial is still going on. But
you see, in the entire history of Singapore, there has not even
been one case where the government has proceeded against a
political opponent and lost. Therefore I am prepared to bet a
million to one that both Dr. Chee and Mr. Yap will be convicted of
the crime; as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow. Similarly for
Feldenstein before the Nazi judges, the Messiah would himself have
to come from Heaven to save Feldentstein from the gallows.
But if Jusvender Kaur had been a real judge, you can see there are
several reasons why the charge should be thrown out.
First look at the title of the Statute! Public Entertainments Act!
Anyone can see that it was never the intention of Dr. Chee and his
colleague to provide entertainment to anyone. This was serious
business. They were selling their newspaper which contained
important news that Singaporeans would want to know. A real judge
can say that as it was not "entertainment", and since the statute
was about entertainers and since neither was one, the defendants
should be released.
Second, the Judge should say that since Lee Kuan Yew claims that
Singapore is a first world country and even a wrote a book about
it; first world countries all allow their people freedom of speech,
and therefore, since prosecuting these 2 men goes against the very
definition of the country being first world, they should be
acquitted.
Third, since the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and
since it permits freedom of speech, these prosecutions are without
basis.
Four, since the Public Entertainments Act requiring permits for
public speaking is a direct violation of the Constitutional
provision of the right to free speech; the Act itself is illegal
and should be struck.
Five, what the men did, did not amount to making speeches at all.
They were selling their newspaper. Look at the dictionary for the
meaning of speech.
Six, since throughout the entire history of Singapore, the police
have never even once given the opposition any permits to do
anything in public, the defendants are absolved from requiring
permits. This law is a political law to demolish opponents.
Seven, the equal protection clause in the constitution is violated.
If the fishmonger can ask passers by to buy his fish, Dr. Chee
should be able to ask passers by to purchase his newspaper, keeping
in mind that the fishmonger had not written to Central Police
Station for a permit, before he committed his act.
But of course, this line of reasoning would only be in the mind of
a real judge. Jusvender Kaur as you know is not now in that role.
Her job is to finish off both these men and send the correct
signals to all Singaporeans in the island. Behave yourself, or
else.
But is Dr. Chee, after all, learning any lesson from all this? Has
Mr. Yap learned anything? It appears entirely the contrary. It
appears that Dr. Chee and Mr. Yap are determined not to learn
anything from their teacher Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. Instead they have
both told me personally that they will criticize this Lee Kuan Yew
as many times and as and when they like, if criticism is warranted.
This is where the problem for Lee Kuan Yew lies.
Lee Kuan Yew has himself admitted in his Machiavellian way that
unless his subjects fear him, he is nothing. This is the problem.
These 2 men are not prepared to be afraid of him. So in the end,
Lee Kuan Yew's actions become counterproductive. I write this blog
in criticism of him. Others the world over read it. Others become
emboldened. There begins to sprout more and more Dr. Chee Soon
Juans and Mr. Yaps. Others begin to see the injustice in this case.
They see the injustices of Lee Kuan Yew. As a result in disgust
Singaporeans emigrate. European countries begin to shun Singapore
as a dictatorship which they can easily avoid. Foreign businesses
begin to leave.
On the whole, Lee Kuan Yew should understand that it is not in his
interest to prosecute these 2 men, since in the end, justice always
triumphs and justice is on the side of Dr. Chee and Mr. Yap.
And so is common sense.
Gopalan Nair
http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2007/11/singapores-political-judges.html
