Ladies and Gentlemen,
Singapore's discredited legal system and bogus democracy, now has a new punishment for foreigners who meddle; they hold your passport and force you to remain there for indefinite periods.
The cowardly hope of this morally beleaguered government I suppose, is, that you will finally give up, financially unable to stay there for such extended periods and apologise to Lee Kuan Yew's government.
Once that happens, the state controlled courts and newspapers will trumpet that confession, justifiably punish you since you confessed after all, and deport you thereafter.
You see this shameful pattern time and time again. Alan Shadrake, the internationally known British author of "Once a Jolly Hangman" was arrested more than 2 months ago on charges of contempt of court and criminal defamation.
The police doing Lee Kuan Yew's dirty work entered his hotel room, ransacked his belongings and promptly confiscated his British passport.
This means, from that time on, Shadrake is forced against his will "imprisoned" within Singapore, unable to leave the island.
After that, the Singapore police take their own sweet time to "investigate" the case, which usually means several months or even years before they bring the case to trial.
In Shadrake's case, he has been there "imprisoned" in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, minus a passport, now for almost 3 months and we are not told when he will eventually be brought to trial.
Remember Shadrake does not live in Singapore, he has no means of livelihood in Singapore; he ordinarily lives in England and Malaysia.
This means, he will be deprived of his livelihood for several months, even years, and unable to take care of his personal business in his home country, while Lee Kuan Yew and his friends take their time to wear him down by his forced "imprisonment".
His original intention, I suppose, when he came to Singapore several months ago was to stay no more than a week and thereafter go back to England to get on with his life and business.
I don't think he ever expected, when he arrived in Singapore, that he will have to stay there for months, even years.
Can you imagine the unbearable financial burden on anyone having to go through this? Several months, even years of forced confinement in Singapore without an income or any means of livelihood?
And needless to say, they refuse to give you work authorization while you are forced to remain there! Without any work or income, many are forced to confess and apologize, not because they did anything wrong, but because they cannot stay any longer in Singapore.
Anyone can see what they are hoping by this, that Shadrake will eventually give up, unable to bear this unexpected financial burden and the disruption to his normal life, and plead guilty.
The same cowardly practice was applied to me in 2008 when I was arrested and my American passport confiscated for "insulting" a Singaporean judge.
My passport was confiscated from my hotel room after it was ransacked, and I was kept in the island for 4 full months before they finally brought me to trial, when I was sentenced to 3 months jail. As a result I was forced to remain in Singapore for a full 6 months. The bad part was not the jail time, it was my having to remain within the island for a full 6 months.
When I arrived in Singapore on May 26, 2008, I expected to stay for 1 week!
All my pleas that they expedite my trial date or that I be allowed to travel to California to attend to my business were denied. As a result of my extended stay in Singapore, my law practice in California was neglected and I suffered heavy financial loss. Of course, there was a terrible temptation for me to confess and try to get out which I managed to resist with great effort.
They are playing the same dirty trick to Alan Shadrake. He on the other hand, to the unbearable chagrin and disappointment of Lee Kuan Yew, appears to be holding up very well and appears almost indefinitely prepared to remain in Singapore, if that is what Lee wants.
Lee Kuan Yew and his bunch of bullies who punish his critics by these dirty tricks should understand that the more they resort to such dirty business, the more their reputation falls before the rest of the world.
If Lee wanted others to take his legal system seriously, then he should behave responsibly.
A foreigner who falls foul of his laws should be dealt with immediately, not kept there languishing for months on end, to fend for themselves. If that is what they intend, then he should be granted work authorization to survive those long months in a foreign land.
Taking his passport and demanding that he remain within Singapore for months is simply gangsterism. In doing so, they are not seeking justice, but coercion and a forced confession from the hapless victim.
Lee Kuan Yew and his friends are behaving like thugs. These tactics are used by third world Banana republics. One does not expect this sort of thing from a so called First world country which the Singapore strongman claims it is.
That is why I will never return to Singapore as long as this regime remains in power. But of course I will continue to expose it from the outside.
And to those freedom activists throughout the world, remember this. If you want to agitate in Singapore you can expect them to behave in such a criminal way. Be prepared for it. If you have the means to survive for extended periods at Lee Kuan Yew's pleasure in the island, then go there. That way you will publicize your message much more effectively, through their stupidity.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
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