Sunday, May 29, 2016

My legal advice to teenager Amos Yee, Singapore governments bete noire

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This 17 year old Singapore teenager, Amos Yee, has been all over the news in that dictatorial island for some time now. He is not a criminal in the normal sense of the word. Not by any means. He is not a thief, a burglar or a fraud. His only crime is to speak his mind. And that, the  Singapore government does not want. And this is something every dictatorship cannot accept, including Singapore.

A background. Last year Yee first came to the attention of Singaporean dictators when he posted a YouTube video which was not too flattering of Lee Kuan Yew, the father of the present dictator Lee Hsien long, Singapore's  first dictator . Besides calling him a tyrant and despot, he posted an Internet image of the dead dictator having sex with the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who many believe also to be authoritarian but by no means to the extent of the dead Lee.

Yee spent 50 days in a Singapore jail for that. They thought of course that Yee was sufficiently intimidated like the other timid Singaporeans, but this was one hard nut to crack, which they didn't realize at the time. Instead of submission and quietly going away, it appears the arrest has enraged and emboldened him even more. Instead of stopping he immediately upon his release published a barrage of attacks  even more hard hitting than before leaving the government in a quandary to which, for the first time in the island's entire dictatorial history, they have no answer! What to do with this determined 17 year old teenager who refuses to take no for an answer.

They can of course, break him, beat him, torture him, cause him permanent bodily injury, damage his mind or do any of a multitude of dirty tactics which dictatorships around the world do. Or they could even kill him. But none of this is going to do them any good. Amos Yee has already come to the attention of the world and any hardship or injury he suffers will draw the outrage of the entire world. After all he is only 17. But if you do nothing and release him, he would not only continue his criticism, he would escalate it.

I can venture to say that if there is one man (or rather child) who can successfully break the rule of Lee Kuan Yews' son's PAP, a dictatorship, it is none other that Amos Yee. I have been in communication with him and am providing him advice on his present case (although he has not requested any assistance) and will provide any assistance he requires or any unsolicited advice I can give him. I am a Barrister at Law, England and Wales and practiced criminal law in Singapore from 1981 to 1991 after which I left for the US due to persecution I suffered for my anti Singapore government activities. I obtained asylum in the US and have been actively practicing law in California USA. I have also been throughout a thorn on their side, and have no intention to let up. I am fully competent to advice Amos Yee.

I understand Yee's case come before Singapore's Kangaroo courts on 5/30/2016.

Presently Amos Yee is facing 6 charges for posting YouTube videos insulting Islam and 2 charges for failing to report to police stations in Singapore. I understand that he has had difficulty finding a lawyer prepared to represent him. The following is my advice to him

1. He should not seek a lawyer even if he can find one. Singapore lawyers are famously timid souls who have been successfully intimated by their government. They all fear representing government critics because of the vindictiveness of their government against them if they did. Lawyers who have represented political dissidents have all suffered harassment in one way or another, so much so that a former government connected criminal lawyer who has since died, Subhas Anandan, publicly admitted that he would be "prepared to represent even the most vile criminal. But please, not political dissidents". Moreover even if he manages to find one, they would be moderating their representation so much, not to displease the Singaporean judge that one would begin to wonder whether he is representing his client or the prosecution! Alone, without an attorney Yee could ask hard hitting questions without fear to cause maximum damage to the Singapore government.

2. His main argument should be that the Constitution protects his right to free speech. The Constitution does not condition that right or deny that right about religion or anything else.

3. Second he should argue that the laws enacted by the government preventing anyone from criticizing religion is unconstitutional. The Constitution is sacrosanct. No law that abridges that right to free speech is permitted. The Constitution can be amended provided 2 conditions exist. That the state is in imminent danger without the amendment and that 2/3 of Parliament votes in that favor. Of course Singapore has 2/3 majority in that rubber stamp parliament. But they cannot show that the state faces imminent danger. After all Yee's YouTube videos have not resulted in island wide riots. In fact the head of the Muslim mosques in Singapore has not even condemned Yee's criticism, he has in fact even forgiven him! So where is the harm to the state?

4. Yee should line up as many witnesses in court to support his argument that the defense of free speech is right and they were not offended by anything he has said.

5. Yee should also make reference to similar cases around the world, such as Charlie Hebdo in France and the numerous other free speech advocates in Western Europe. None of their governments have charged any of them nor even condemned them as the right to free speech is a cherished human right regardless of whether the Singapore dictator Lee Hsien Loong would agree or not.

6. And lastly Yee should drag and delay his trial for as long as he can. Conduct extensive cross examinations against the prosecution witnesses and stretch and delay the case as long as he can, several weeks, months or even years. The plan is to keep this trial in the public eye as well as the eye of the world for as long as he can. This will take up a lot of the court's time while every session in court will be published and scrutinized around the world as well as locally. You want to try to obtain as much publicity as possible to cause as much damage to this government's reputation as you can.

7. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a time to rally around Yee because his right to free speech impacts us all.

8. Yee is free to contact me if he wants throughout these proceedings and I will help all I can. Friends, there is no need to be intimidated by these multi millionaire corrupt thugs who pay themselves millions and run Singapore island. Stand up to them.

This blog will undoubtedly be read by the Singaporean dictator and his Singapore Attorney General who are bullying this teenager. Don't allow that.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A2
Fremont California 94538
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

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