Leading Singapore democrat Dr. Chee Soon Juan, has been imprisoned again. The president of the Singapore Democratic Party was jailed on 19 January, together with SDP colleague Ghandi Ambalam, for one week for the crime of distributing leaflets criticizing government policy.
Chee was formerly a Reagan-Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy.
A third SDP activist, Ms. Chee Siok Chin, recently served a similar sentence for the same violation.
“Although these sentences may be thought short, the ‘crime’ is ludicrous, and they form part of a systematic campaign of repression of dissident voices in the city-state,” the World Forum for Democratization in Asia observes.
”Singapore remains the textbook example of a politically repressive state,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Individuals who want to criticize or challenge the ruling party’s hold on power can expect to face a life of harassment, lawsuits, and even prison.”
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