By Koh Gui Qing
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore opposition politician Chee Soon Juan and two supporters have been summoned to court by the police for speaking in public without a permit between November 2005 and April 2006, a police spokesman said on Tuesday.
Chee, leader of the Singapore Democratic Party, and Yap Keng Ho and Gandhi Ambalam have been told to appear in court on June 20, police spokesman Victor Keong said.
Public speaking is prohibited in Singapore unless speakers have been licensed by the government.
"Our officers observed that Dr. Chee and other SDP-related persons were giving extended speeches and not merely making a sales pitch to sell their publications," Keong said.
Chee, who was served eight summonses, could not be reached for comment.
"The SDP is determined to break the PAP's stranglehold on free speech and peaceful assembly in Singapore," the SDP said on its website.
The wealthy city-state has been criticised by Amnesty International for its tight controls on political expression, but the People's Action Party (PAP), which has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965, says that firm regulation of public debate and the media is necessary to maintain law and order.
The SDP did not win any seats in the May 6 general election, but won 23 percent of the votes in the wards that it contested. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's PAP won 82 of the 84 seats in parliament, keeping the same number of seats as before.
Chee's sister, Chee Siok Chin, has appealed to the court to annul the results of the election on the basis that it was not free and fair, but the Attorney-General has asked the High Court to dismiss her application, the Straits Times newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Chee and his sister also face a defamation lawsuit, which was launched by Lee and his father, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, over an article in the SDP's newsletter.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
7 comments:
According to CNA, the Police investigated after a member of the public made a complaint about Chee speaking without a permit. Who're they kidding? Who's that "member of the public?" Probably one of the ministers.
the same guy that complained about the elephants, and about gomez not putting in his form
the same guy that's an octogenarian, balding rapidly and a mentor?
To speak or not to speak, to blog or not to blog.These are some of the many problems singaporeans had.
When we rephrase the heading as 'Singaporean summoned for speaking without permit', it allows us to address the issue more objectively. It basically means that the populace are allowed to question insofar as it is done in no effective way that can pose as a challenge to the answers the Corporation supplies despite all questions. This is how the idea of 'dissent' is kept out of the public imagination till the next elections, when the populace is led to the ballots once again with little else but the Corporation and their 'words of wisdom' in their minds and with little dissenting views in their arsenal of perspectives to argue for an alternative locality for what becomes yet another portentious 'cross'.
This is one of the ways that the view, "the opposition are lousy lahhh", gains credence. The dilution of their public presence in the course of the period between elections; the opposition thus deprived of constant and consistent public challenge that would enable them to refine their respectives stances; and their being 'less familiar' than the Corporation in power wrecks untold damage on the perspectival psyche, and, which goes a long way in ensuring victory after victory for party in power.
The year: 2006
The Territory: Republic of Singapore
The Requirement: Persons who wish to speak, must first seek permission form the correct authority.
CIA, please take note and amend your Factbook accordingly.
haha
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