Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Hanging in there, the Judges Belinda Ang, blogging case and Lai Sue Chiu EMail case

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Yes, I am hanging in there as best I can, but it is difficult. It has been 3 months since I came to Singapore intending to stay 10 days!

The situation up till now is this.

The blogging case, Judge Belinda Ang case

The Charge:

" Gopalan Nair are charged that you on or about May 29, 2008 in Singapore, did intentionally offer an insult to a public servant namely Justice Belinda Ang Saw Een, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore while the Judge was sitting in judicial proceedings namely Notice of Assessment No. 23 of 2008 in Suit No. 261 of 2006 and Notice of Assessment No. 24 of 2008 in Suit No. 262 of 2006 by posting the following words on your blog at http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/index.html:

"The following transpired during the last 3 days in court. The judge Belinda Ang was throughout prostituting herself during the entire proceedings by being nothing more than an employee of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and his son and carrying out their orders"

and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 228 of the Penal Code (Chapter 224).

On August 1, 2008, the Preliminary Inquiry was held in the High Court at 9 am. There are 2 cases here. One the Judge Belinda Ang case where I am accused of having insulted her in my blog post in May of 2008. Then there is another charge that I insulted Judge Lai Sui Chu on March 17 2006, 2 years ago, by an Email, for having called her "corrupt", at which time I was physically in the United States.

The purpose of the Preliminary Inquiry was to decide whether the prosecution has made out a sufficient case to make me stand trial for these charges.

The main prosecution witness was Assistant Superintendent of Police Razak Jakaria (ASP Razak) who was both the arresting officer, among others; as well as the Investigating Officer in this case. The judge was Magistrate Tan Wen Hsien, a woman; the prosecuting counsel was Francis Ng Yoong Kiat assisted by Jillian Koh Tan.

The evidence of ASP Razak was as follows. He claims he received a letter from the Attorney General that someone claiming to be Pallichadath Gopalan Nair, using the email address nair.gopalan@yahoo.com had sent Emails to a number of people including Walter Woon the Attorney General, Judge Belinda Ang, her secretary, among one or two others attaching the blog posts that I had posted about Judge Belinda Ang.

As a background, you will recall that when I was arrested on May 31, 2008 by ASP Razak, his first job while interrogating me was to confront me with these Emails and accusing me of having sent them. During the repeated interrogation by him, while I was in custody in Cantonment Police Station for 5 days in solitary confinement, I consistently maintained that I had never sent these Emails; that I had stopped using the name Pallicahdath Gopalan Nair as of 2004 when I became an American citizen and that I have ever since used the name Gopalan Nair only. ASP Razak had seized my blue note book when he arrested me on May 31, 2008, in which was written my password for this Email account. In fact, when the court ordered that the police permit me to have copies of this notebook, which I collected from him about 2 weeks ago at Cantonment police Station, I found the page that contained my email password missing. When I asked him whether he had taken it, his answer was "no". When I asked him to put it in writing that he did not take it, he refused, asking me instead to tell it to the judge!

As a result of the numerous attempt to pressure me into admitting that I sent these Emails to these people during interrogation, and after even more pressure by threatening to charge me under the Sedition Act where the court could have sent me to jail for 3 years, ASP Razak finally realized I suppose that no matter what, I am not going to admit to something that I did not do. I am not going to admit sending these Emails to any of these people even though the Email account was mine; simply because I did not send them.

I do not know who sent these Emails. Perhaps ASP Razak could have sent them himself after he got my Email password and blame it on me. Perhaps the Singapore government could have sent it. Or even someone else not connected to the Singapore government could have sent it. But I did not. But anyone who sent it had made one major mistake. The Emails carried the name Pallichadath Gopalan Nair, a name that I had not used since 2004, being now known only as Gopalan Nair. But mistake or not, the fact remains that I did not send them.

Coming back to the Preliminary Inquiry of August 1, 2008, the principle prosecution witness was ASP Razak. His testimony was that he received a notice from the Attorney General that someone claiming to be Pallichadath Gopalan Nair had sent Emails to the above mentioned people attaching the blog post in which I had accused Judge Belinda Ang, the subject of my charge.

Based on this request, his testimony was that he got a Magistrates Warrant to arrest me. He and 4 other police officers kept watch for me at Broadway Hotel on May 31, 2008 and arrested me there. He claims that immediately thereafter he took possession of the computer that I had used from the hotel lobby and sent it to the Criminal Investigation Computer Crime department for examination. He then outlined the various times he interrogated me while in custody and the various statements taken from me.

I cross examined him. I asked him if he was Muslim and does he realize that he will suffer terribly if he lied under oath. In fact Malay Muslims take the oath to Allah very seriously. They believe that if you lie before God under oath, not only you will suffer God's wrath, but also your entire family and generations thereafter will be under a curse and suffer terribly.

When a true Muslim lies under oath, the guilt in him is indelibly imprinted in his mind, and subconsciously whenever something untoward happens to him or to his family thereafter he subconsciously attributes it to God's retribution. And this is done by asking him whether he is a Muslim and from that moment, whether he answers the question or not, what he says will carry a painful price if untrue.

This is what Muslims believe.

ASP Razak Jakaria, chose not to answer the question.

The judge immediately told me that I was not to make reference to a person’s religion again to which I answered that "once was enough". It was enough for ASP Razak to know that lying uttering the name of God comes with terrible consequences and he will have to face it if he is guilty of it; if that is what he did.

I asked him if he examined the blue note book, which contained my Email password to which his answer was, believe it or not, that he "glanced through its pages very quickly". I countered his response by saying that instead of "glancing through the pages very quickly, I suggested that he would have instead "gone through it with a fine tooth comb" to which his response to the judge was that he did not understand how a "fine tooth comb" had any application in this case! As he did not understand the expression, I rephrased the question by saying that he would have gone through the book very carefully and in great detail; to which his answer was, believe it or not, he quickly went through that book and did not see in it anything very important!

Very convenient answer indeed! That book was crucial evidence. In it contained the password for my Email account nair.gopalan@yahoo.com to which was attributed these various Emails that he alleges that I had sent to Attorney General Walter Woon, to Belinda Ang and the others! Very convenient for him therefore to say that he only "glanced though the notebook quickly"!

Even though, as you are aware, having failed to make me admit that it was I that sent these Emails, the statement of ASP Razak still makes reference to the Emails. I then pointed out to the Judge that as I am not being charged for sending these Emails, that the charge against me was for writing a blog post, and as I have all along admitted that it was I who published the blog post for which I am being prosecuted, why then is there the need to even refer to these Emails. The astonishing answer from the prosecutor Francis Ng Yong Kiat was that it was necessary as a background to this prosecution! As to why there is any need to lay a background by referring to the Emails, which I had not sent, and upon which they are not relying to prosecute me, is amusing.

The Email case, Judge Lai Siu Chiu of March 17, 2006

This case relates to an Email, which accuses me of sending an Email to Judge Lai more than 2 years ago, the words being

"Your Judge Lai Siu Chiu has no shame. The reason why she and her fellow judges punish and silence PAP critics are because judges are well paid and have comfortable lives. They are selling their souls and their conscience for money. They are misusing the law for personal gain. Your Singapore judges including Lai are corrupt judges".

The charge is the same, Section 228 of the Penal Code, namely insulting a judge.

The curious thing about both these charges is that a reading of the charge tends to imply an instance where the defendant had gone to court while proceeding were under way, and there, in the court, insulted the judge. You can imagine a scenario where, for instance, a disgruntled litigant whose case had earlier been thrown out by a particular judge, and is now angry at him, goes to court and insults him.

In my case, I had done no such thing. In the Belinda Ang case, I wrote a blogpost. I did not go to court and insult her. Neither did I invite her to read my blog. I never sent any Emails to her. How in heavens can a court even suggest that I had insulted Belinda Ang "while she was sitting in proceedings" with a blog post is incredulous.

And in the Judge Lai case it is even more so, because in March 17, 2006 I was not even in Singapore! I was in California. Should not a man be within the jurisdiction for criminal law to attach?

The magistrate as expected, no surprises here, found there to be sufficient evidence to have me stand trial. The case comes up in the High Court on Sept 08, 2008.

Wish me luck. Although it is a nightmare, I am learning even more about Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew's first world country.

Gopalan Nair
Singapore

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your Judge Lai Siu Chiu has no shame. The reason why she and her fellow judges punish and silence PAP critics are because judges are well paid and have comfortable lives. They are selling their souls and their conscience for money. They are misusing the law for personal gain. Your Singapore judges including Lai are corrupt judges".


Whether you said it or not? Or I say it or not ! It is what the general public is saying!! Only some are more outspoken!

So is Lee's SPF going to jail the entire nation??????????

Hey Sinkaporeans wake up lah! Learn from the M'sians!

Anonymous said...

Aiyah if they are hell bent on "fixing" oppositions like what they did to Anwar to the extent of "sodomy charges" what is accusing you about sending emails or cooking up any story !

But remember my dear fren Mr Nair, justice will prevail and they will pay for their sins!

Anonymous said...

Its a very dirty harry world! We have learnt long time -sadly you are just learning about FamiLees!

Anonymous said...

Like everyone else who must have read your blog, I'm certain, I can see you're not just a dissident against the Singapore government, but of its people. You seem to be able to find ways to insult people because their education level, their vocation, even their ethnicity. Never mind every other, but why must you comment so vilely about the education and linguistic ability of your ex-fellow Indian Singaporean? I am not Indian (and you don't have to be one to feel what I do) and even I feel your words are much too incivil and completely unnecessary. Our society is based on harmony regardless of how smart or well-educated you are.
Mr Nair, I pity you and I believe all others with two brains in Singapore and America do too. You must have no friends in Singapore to generalise us with such petty tags and I'm certain you have none in America. America would destroy a country to "help liberate" Afganistans. They are, the way your expressed it, "curiously" doing nothing for you, supposedly an American, except offer cheap talk. Mr Nair, you have no value. To Singaporeans or to Americans. But I wish you well for the rest of your stay here. The prisons are much kinder here than in America I hear.

Bukit Chandan said...

We have no choice but to get involved in Singapore matters. The Malaysian Government is trying to follow the Singapore Government, especially Khairy and Hamid Albar.

We have just updated our I-List. Keep the names rolling in as they are involved in the 'kangaroo' courts and justice in Singapore.

Best Regards.........

Anonymous said...

Dear Gopalan,

Sometimes, I wonder if I am watching a Chinese wayang, starring the henchmen of the famiLEE.

This court case is the best of reality shows, I am writing to a real victim who cannot return to the USA.

It is making Australian election political spinning and mugslinging look like elementary school stuff.

Singapore is advancing 1 step forward, 2 steps back.

Can't wait to buy your book of your experiences in Singapore when all these blow over.

Hang on there. Wish you good health.

Anonymous said...

Rather than let the naysayers take the first comment, let a supporter step forward and offer you his best wishes!

Good luck, have heart and know that we`re all behind you!
Strike down the injustice with the hammer of righteousness!

Anonymous said...

wishing you all the best while we support you under cover of anonymity!

it's too bad we have all been whipped into submission and fear and cannot speak up ourselves.

CID coming, gtg!

Anonymous said...

"Singaporean and darn proud of it said... " What a tramp!

Sir, obviously, you seem to be as ignorant as other Singaporeans who are in charge of the judiciary.

I would love you to be visiting USA and write about our problems in USA. You know why, I can start a civil case agianst you for causing me emotional distress for your uneducated, half-ass comments about the actions of Americans. I will get a restraining order against you from leaving USA, and make you suffer similar to what your idiotic government is doing to Mr. Nair at this very moment.

Everyone has a right to be proud of their country. But it will not justify your actions. Regretably, in your case, you are licking the boots of your dictator.

If Singapore wants to proclaim that it is a first-world nation, it has to act like one. Separation of judiciary from the executive department is one of the fundamentals of checks and balances in government. But, in Singapore kangaroo courts, the judges seem to lick the boots of the dictator as well. What a sad day for the common law system!

Anonymous said...

do your best, nvr be daunted by them, even though no dissenter has won his case before..(right? im pretty young, still have much to learn from spore history other than social studies books)

do your best! anw the part abt the malay officer was super-impressive. its rare that a non-muslim noes about islam values, its more of the other way round.

go go go! lolz

Anonymous said...

I couldn't believe that the Governemnt would resort to such this dirty ways to deal with Mr Nair for discredit Belinda Ang. All singaporeans knew Belina is just a employee as far as i know for the Mentor Minister or senior mentor Minister or superior senior minister mentor. How can Mr nair be charged like that? Where is justice

Anonymous said...

Instead of wasting your time whining ad nausem on this blog, why don't you write your memoirs like your nemesis did.

Maybe, you may even get rich from the royalties!

Anonymous said...

They make it a nightmare not only for you but for all who open the mouth so that that they can enjoy the riches!

I do not wht hell you are going thru or made to go thru just like Ravi!

They will all pay for this sins!

Anonymous said...

I hope you prevail!

Anonymous said...

This is why trial by jury has been abolished. For the good of the country.

If there were a jury trial, Mr Nair would undoubtedly be acquitted. That is, of course, wrong. How can our citizens be subject to such? We have to protect their frail minds from these dangerous thoughts that emanate from this Mr Nair.

"Singaporean and darn proud of it", you're right, of course. Mr Nair is always insulting everyone. Not giving us a voice, of course, is not an insult. Aren't our policymakers just so wise? They know that for our own good, we have to be protected from ourselves. Of course we don't have their enlightened minds and twelve good men/women would make a wrong decision by setting Mr Nair free in a jury trial. This message they're sending is, of course, not an insult. The party never insults us, even when they say we're not ready for democracy.

Long live l'Empreur, may his shadow never grow less.

Anonymous said...

I left Singapore 15 years ago, even though I have many relatives there, I dont really follow the politics/situation there.

Anyways as an expert in Internet Security, I can tell you it is quite easy to forge fake emails addresses. But.. when you send an email to someone your 'Originating Internet Address' (ip address) is also sent along in the email header.

You can basicly track who or from where the email is sent from. Ofcourse this is also possible to fake, but there are a lot more technical details you can check to proof you didnt sent the email.

Anonymous said...

"I couldn't believe that the Governemnt would resort to such this dirty ways to deal with Mr Nair for discredit Belinda Ang."

Well, better believe it for it's happening right before your astonished eyes - and you can't do a damned thing to stop it.

Look up the Singapore 'Marxist conspiracy' and note the parallels with this case. Trumped-up charges and imprisonment without due process are nothing new for LKY and the PAP. It's been going on from day one. How else do you think they've managed to stay in power for 50 years???

Law said...

Mr. Nair,

I am a first year Law Student at American University and I want to write an article on your experiance with the court system in Singapore. I would very much like to contact you. If you would prefer to not talk to me I would understand. If you do have any thoughts you would like to convey to me please let me know.

-Elleni