E-mail Discussion Lists Using Advocacy to Achieve Democratic Reform

DemocracyAlerts

From time to time, the World Movement for Democracy issues alerts concerning participants and other colleagues who are, or may be, facing personal danger due to their work on behalf of democracy and for whom a vigorous response from around the world may be critical.

To see previous alerts go to www.wmd.org/democracyalerts/democracyAlerts.html.

On May 12, 2008, the Singapore Courts will rule on the amount of damages owed by the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), SDP Secretary-General Dr. Chee Soon Juan, and SDP member Ms. Chee Siok Chin as the result of a legal defamation suit brought by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in 2006 after the party published an article criticizing how the country was being run.  Dr. Chee and Ms. Chee were sued because they refused to apologize for the article.  The initial trial that found the Chees and the SDP guilty was held in the judge’s chambers without the defendants’ lawyer present.  The May 12 trial will decide the amount owed, which is expected to be more than US$500,000, which will bankrupt the SDP, and permit the Prime Minister to de-register the SDP as a party.

Both Ms. Chee and Dr. Chee are World Movement participants.  Last month, Ms. Chee attended the World Movement’s Fifth Assembly in Kyiv, Ukraine.  In April 2006, however, Dr. Chee was stopped at the airport in Singapore and prevented from attending the World Movement’s Fourth Assembly in Istanbul, Turkey.  His passport was seized, and he was effectively put on city arrest.  Dr. Chee has already been ordered to pay Mr. Lee and other ruling party officials more than US$600,000 as a result of two previous lawsuits. 

The SDP asks that concerned individuals write letters of protest to local Embassies of Singapore.

For more information on the trial, go to: http://yoursdp.org/component/content/article/1-singapore/442-registrar-qalmost-certainq-hearing-will-be-in-open-court

For previous DemocracyAlerts concerning Chee Soon Juan, go to: www.wmd.org/democracyalerts/cheeSoonJuan.html#feb27

For previous DemocracyAlerts concerning Singapore, go to: www.wmd.org/democracyalerts/oct1507.html