AFTER succeeding in his latest defamation action against opposition politicians, former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew has turned his attention to a visiting US lawyer who has criticised Mr Lee on the internet.
The latest target is California lawyer Gopalan Nair, a former Singapore citizen, who dared Mr Lee to take action over a critical posting on his internet blog.
Soon after the posting appeared, Mr Nair was arrested and held in solitary confinement for several days.
Although a US citizen since 2005, Mr Nair was in Singapore to observe Mr Lee's defamation action against Chee Soon Juan, who heads the opposition Singapore Democratic Party.
The final posting on his blog before his arrest.
Mr Nair was arrested on May 31 and, on June 2, he was charged with insulting Judge Belinda Ang, who was presiding at the Chee trial.
He was released on June 5 and charged on June 12 with insulting another judge over an incident that took place in 2006.
When he was in prison Mr Nair was kept in a cell that was illuminated around the clock.
He had no bedding and had to sleep on the ground.
Mr Nair's case is due to go to trial this month.
Dr Chee has been released from prison after serving 11 days for scandalising the court during his cross-examination of Mr Lee.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has issued a statement expressing its concern over Mr Nair's treatment.
"Singapore's detention of Gopalan Nair for public comments about such a highly politicised case is completely unwarranted," the committee's Asia program co-ordinator Bob Dietz said.
"Freedom to criticise the judiciary is fundamental to a modern society.
"This case illustrates the Singapore Government's ongoing commitment to silencing opposition voices both in print and online.
In the Chee case, which is at the centre of the affair, Dr Chee personally cross-examined Mr Lee about the Singapore Government's use of defamation law to silence its critics.
Under cross-examination, Mr Lee said: "There are various parts of this Government which do not comply with Western practices, including the law of libel.
"But it is a system that has worked."
Mr Lee noted also that the International Bar Association had "honoured" Singapore by holding its annual conference there last year.
The association president had said "how impressed they were by the standards they found to obtain in the judiciary", Mr Lee said.
Before moving to the US, Mr Nair had been an active member of the Singapore Workers Party and had been found guilty of contempt of court over a 1991 political speech.
According to his blog, Mr Nair completed his legal education in Britain and practised for 10 years in Singapore.
He stood for election in 1988 and 1991 but he claims he was harassed and persecuted for his beliefs.
He is admitted to the California Bar and practises in the city of Fremont near San Francisco.
