US blogger called Singapore judges 'corrupt'--indictment
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 16:44:00 06/12/2008
SINGAPORE--A US-based blogger accused of calling Singapore judges "corrupt" could face up to a year in jail, according to charges filed on Thursday.
It was the second charge filed this month against Gopalan Nair, a former Singaporean lawyer who is now a US citizen, for his alleged comments about the judiciary.
Nair, 58, was in court to hear the latest allegation against him. He is charged with insulting Supreme Court Justice Lai Siu Chiu in an e-mail on March 17, 2006.
The e-mail said Lai has "no shame" and that judges "are selling their souls and their conscience for money," according to a court document.
"Your Singapore judges, including Lai, are corrupt judges," the document cited his e-mail as saying.
Lai had sentenced opposition party leader Chee Soon Juan to a one-day jail term and fined him for contempt of court on the date Nair allegedly sent the e-mail.
Nair, who has not yet entered a plea in court and is free on bail, was to hold a press conference later Thursday.
Earlier this month he was charged with insulting another judge, Justice Belinda Ang Saw Ean, over comments his lawyer said repeated those made in a blog about a defamation case filed by Singapore's leaders against Chee and his party.
In the blog, Nair strongly criticized a legal hearing at which Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, testified.
Court documents allege he sent an e-mail accusing the judge of "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."
Singapore's legal system has been praised by foreign investors for its efficiency.
The latest charge against Nair carries a maximum fine of S$5,000 dollars (US$3,623), or one year in prison, or both.
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