Ladies and Gentlemen,
Singapore's state controlled newspaper, the Straits Times of July 25, 2011, just a few minutes ago, reports in it's headlines, "Lawyer gets life-time ban for "scandalizing the courts"". I have just had the honor of never ever practicing law, in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore courts.
Ordinarily, this news would have occasioned some sadness, that is, if one were to be punished this way by an ordinarily respectable legal system. But it is different here.
This is the same legal system that had disbarred the late respected lawyer JB Jeyaretnam, not because he did anything wrong, but because he had the temerity in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore to criticize him or the government.
It is also the same legal system that awarded Lee Kuan Yew and his family several million, repeat several million dollars in libel award against Tang Liang Hong, just because he criticized the same individual at an election rally in 1997 in Singapore. Tang had since fled the island and now lives in exile in Australia, beyond the clutches of Lee Kuan Yew.
And this same court that has come down with a life time disbarment against me is the same one that has repeatedly awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars against Dr. Chee Soon Juan resulting in his bankruptcy and loss of employment all because he too had the courage to stand against this same man, Lee Kuan Yew.
If one really thought about it, this puts me among great men, JB Jeyaretnam, Chee Soon Juan and Tang, all heroes and martyrs because they too were all punished just as I am today for speaking against this dictatorship which has hijacked the law courts and everything else there.
And as expected of any banana republic such as this that governs by intimidating it's citizens with only the compliant lot left intact in the island, while those with any self respect have all cleared off to Australia and elsewhere, this newspaper report is riddled with lies and half truths.
It says the disbarment was for "scandalizing the (Singapore) courts and conduct not befitting a lawyer". But it does not say that the "scandalizing" as they call it, was a blog post in this blog about the disgraceful conduct of one of their judges Belinda Ang Saw Ean titled "Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court" dated May 29, 2008.
Read the blog post yourself. Every single sentence written there is correct and I stand by it. And as for the words used "prostituting oneself" every single dictionary gives the meaning of the words as someone who abuses her authority or office for an improper purpose. There this judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean misused and defiled her office of a judge, to grant the decision to Lee Kuan Yew against Chee Soon Juan.
As for conduct not befitting a lawyer, they clearly avoid any details. Very convenient. I will tell you what they are. In one case I was accosted by some Lee Kuan Yew's thugs in plain clothes and claiming to be police officers claiming that I had knocked on their police car, and wanted to know who I was. Upon my refusal to cooperate, they arrest me causing me injuries, and charge me with hurling obscenities at them and behaving in a disorderly fashion, which the police officer at trial demonstrated as waving my arms! If you believe all that nonsense.
The other matters were another blog post written about another one of their Kangaroo Judges, Judith Prakash who coincidentally sends 3 young men to jail for wearing Tshirts with pictures of kangaroos on them (please see my earlier blogs on them) and for deliberately defying their court order not to criticize them anymore, as if such a court order demands any respect.
The this state controlled newspaper report says that I "was not present (in the Singapore court) even though he had been invited to defend himself". I am afraid once again they are conveniently hiding the truth. At present, there are many more events for which I could be arrested if I returned to Singapore. For one, I could be charged for contempt of court for deliberately defying their court order not to criticize after my return to the US. Second, I could be charged for writing the blog post about Judge Judtih Prakash which I wrote from the US. And third I had written countless blog posts criticizing their kangaroo judges and their legal system from the US.
This means of course that the moment I step into Singapore, I will be arrested again and charged with all these cases, thrown in jail and the key thrown away as well. You can appreciate that anyone with a head on his shoulders would not want to invite such an adventure.
If in fact they were serious of letting me defend myself in this case in Singapore, they would have given me the guarantee of safe passage in and out of Singapore which I had requested repeatedly from the Attorney general, Singapore Police, Minister for Law and the Singapore Law Society. If in fact they were concerned of this case being seen to be done fairly, the proper thing to do would have been to give me the guarantee that I had asked. They never replied to any of my letters.
You can see why anyone in their right minds would have avoided ever returning to Singapore under these circumstances.
And then they get their facts wrong too. They say I was sentenced to 3 months jail for "contempt of court". That is not correct. The sentence was for "insulting a judge", a law in their Penal Code, in this case Belinda Ang Saw Ean in my blog. Whether it is an insult or whether it is an accurate account of what happened is something you can judge for yourself.
As for my leaving Singapore for the US, they write "although he has stopped practicing here, he has remained on the rolls". This implies that I had deliberately maintained my status in Singapore. This again is another half truth. If one leaves the country or stops practicing, your name remains on the rolls in Singapore by default. I did nothing to facilitate it.
Then it says "he had also in 1992 been suspended from practicing law for 2 years for remarks about former attorney general Tan Boon Teik". Again another half truth. I had written 2 letters to him for an explanation relating to JB Jeyaretnam's request for a pardon. Nothing wrong in that, for which I was suspended for 2 years. The real reason for suspending me was of course to silence me and to destroy my career and remove me from politics. Please see my recent blog post here of July 23, 2011, titled "Law Society of Singapore vs Gopalan Nair, a demand for harsher punishment on July 25, 2011 trial because I continue to criticize" on the details of that matter.
Lastly the title itself is incorrect when it says "Lawyer gets life time ban for "scandalizing the courts"". This statement is true only as long as Lee Kuan Yew's dictatorship which uses the law as a political tool remains in power. From the way things are going in the island, I don't think it is going to take long before these Singaporean kangaroo judges are kicked out or Lee Kuan Yew and his government say by bye for good.
When that happens, I not only expect to be reinstated to the Rolls of Singapore lawyers, I would expect the new democratic government of the country to offer me honorary Singapore citizenship for the work I have done for the cause of freedom there.
And lastly, I have to thank Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore for taking all this trouble to have me disbarred. It is already headlines in the state controlled newspapers there, and this news will be reported in all radio and TV stations. This keeps the actions of Gopalan Nair against the Lee Kuan Yew government alive in the island. This helps to keep Gopalan Nair and my activism always fresh in the minds of Singaporeans. I may be an American citizen now, but I can assure you I will continue agitating for the cause of freedom in the island.
Thank you.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
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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8 comments:
I'm glad you're safe in the USA - which is my land too. My eyes have been opened, thanks to your blogs and others who have trodden this path.
I am a former Singaporean Indian myself, and am appalled of what I didn't learn in my history lessons. I take that as MY fault - for not seeking the truth.
I would have done that same thing myself and not bothered to step inside the Singapore courts and jails for these tyrannical accusations.
Congratulation on your induction to Hall of Fame of Patriotic Singaporeans.
You must write a letter to Lee Kuan Yew for bestowing the honour.
" From the way things are going in the island, I don't think it is going to take long before these Singaporean kangaroo judges are kicked out or Lee Kuan Yew and his government say by bye for good.
Hi Mr Nair.
My colleague in Vancouver said that the Chinese nationals and authorities are aware of the situation in Singapore. Some are even laughing at the pathetic system. In China, they have more basic freedom of expression and assembly, and perks! Singapore is too hot for them. She also confirmed that for the Chinese people who seek Singapore Citizenships, many do it for an ulterior motive. Bottomline - their destination is not Singapore. How stupid of LKY. And even so, to not consider that his 'kangaroo courts' and so called minions may have already secured places abroad, it's a matter of time.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, after the jailing of author Alan Shadrake for writing a critical book, now the disbarring of a lawyer for speaking out critically. Is this how a nation gets From Third World to First? Read no evil, speak no evil, and all Singaporeans must pretend to see no evil. This is part of the reason why the UK Parliamentary hearing into phone hacking howled with mocking laughter when Rupert Murdoch proclaimed Singapore to be a corruption-free paradise. Well done Lee Kuan Yew, tin pot tyrant of the nation, for demonstrating the impeccable quality of Singapore's rule of law. What now of your precious reputation for probity?
If the S'pore Law Society has the courage of its convictions then it behoves them to swiftly report the action they have taken against the recalcitrant convicted renegade lawyer, Gopalan Nair, to the legal authorities of England and California because he remains a member in good standing in those jurisdictions and is still free to practice the law there. That cannot be right, surely? That he has been struck off the Rolls for unethical conduct is a serious matter and the public must be protected from such as the wicked Nair. We look forward eagerly to seeing the President of the S'pore Law Society and perhaps S'pore's Solicitor General standing up before the hearing to demand that Nair's law license and/or admission to practice be revoked worldwide.
Now hands up all those who think the Singapore Government's Law Society will be prepared to risk the soundness of their case against Nair being examined in the non-kangaroo courts of the UK and the USA? Will they then feel emboldened to sue IBAHRI for publishing a document also calling into question the independence of the judiciary in Singapore in 2008?
Oh! what a tangled web we weave. When first we practise to deceive!
Once again the PAP Govt via their vindictive nature is making a fool of themselves before the whole world.
Lawyer G Nair had left S'pore more than 10 years ago and become a practicing counsel in California after qualifying for a political asylum and given US citizenship. Many including the Govt and their law society know this fact. As Mr Nair did not renew his practicing certificate year after year, the LS could easily under their constitution remove his name quietly without much fanfare. I suspect they had already done this years ago.
They must have thought that Mr Nair had learnt his lesson after his incarceration for 6 months and would be compliant and remorseful after making a promise in court not to post uncomplimentary remarks about Singapore and it's
judiciary on his return to USA. And that would be the end of the matter .
But Mr Nair thought otherwise and resumed his vitriolic attack on his blog on his jjreturn to safe grounds.
Obviously his subsequent must have hurt them significantly
Seething with fury they came up with only this pathetic recourse of striking him off the rolls and making a big hoo-thah of it complete with a big colored pic of their feared adversary in the ST today.
Maybe they thought this supposedly bad publicity for GN could somehow influence the California Bar to think askance of him and lower his professional standing in the eyes of his contemporaries?
As they did to so many others before, there is no doubt now that LKY and his ilk continue to be petty, vindictive and vicious to those who oppose them politically.
Send your letter to the Straits Times and see if they will publish it.
I support your last paragraph whole-heartedly Mr Gopalan Nair!!!!!
As I said before last year.....I will be one of the first to greet you at Changi airport with a garland to welcome you back once the PAP scums are kicked off in a future GE and none too soon.
GO GOPALAN GO........
Shame.
Have these people no dignity left?
Do they think we are fools?
The time will come and soon when they will have to face the music themselves.
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