| From: |
World Youth Movement for Democracy |
| Subject: |
[DemocracyAlert] WMD Steering Committee Issues Statement on Charges against Dr. Chee Soon Juan
|
| Sent: |
Oct 23rd, 2006 - 16:02:46 |
|
| |
Begin forwarded message:
> From: "WORLD MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRACY"
> Date: October 17, 2006 11:53:57 AM GMT-02:00
> To: democracynews (at) lyris.ned.org
> Subject: [DemocracyAlert] WMD Steering Committee Issues Statement on
> Charges against Dr. Chee Soon Juan
>
> The WMD's DemocracyNews
> Electronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy - www.wmd.org
>
>
> ***********************************************************************
> (October 17, 2006)
>
>
> Democracy Alert: World Movement Steering Committee Issues Statement on
> Charges Leveled against Dr. Chee Soon Juan of Singapore
>
> On October 17, the Steering Committee of the World Movement for
> Democracy issued a statement condemning charges recently filed against
> Singaporean democracy activist Dr. Chee Soon Juan. On October 9, Dr.
> Chee, Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party, was charged
> with attempting to leave Singapore in April 2006 to attend the World
> Movement’s Fourth Assembly in Istanbul, Turkey (please see the message
> Dr. Chee sent to the Assembly below). The Steering Committee has
> issued the following statement, which it is distributing widely and
> will share with the Government of Singapore:
>
> ***********************************************************************
> Statement of Steering Committee,
> World Movement for Democracy,
> On Charges Leveled against Chee Soon Juan of Singapore
>
> October 17, 2006
>
> The Steering Committee of the World Movement for Democracy, a global
> network of democracy activists, practitioners, scholars, and policy
> makers engaged in the promotion of democracy worldwide, condemns the
> recent actions taken against World Movement participant Dr. Chee Soon
> Juan by the Government of Singapore for attempting to leave the
> country without official permission. The Committee takes particular
> note of the fact that the alleged “offense” relates to Dr. Chee's
> efforts to attend the World Movement's Fourth Assembly in Istanbul,
> Turkey, in April 2006. A nonviolent but outspoken critic of
> Singapore's Government and Secretary-General of the opposition
> Singapore Democratic Party, Dr. Chee was forced to forfeit his
> passport as he was boarding a plane to attend the Istanbul Assembly.
> If convicted of the charge, he faces a possible two years in jail and
> a fine of up to US$6,300. The Singapore Government also recently
> charged Dr. Chee with speaking in public without a permit during a
> pro-democracy demonstration he attended with other activists in
> Singapore during the meetings there of the World Bank and IMF. A
> trial date on that charge has been set for October 25.
>
> These actions and charges give the appearance of orchestrated efforts
> to restrain Dr. Chee in his efforts to advance democracy in Singapore.
> In the circumstances, the Steering Committee calls upon the Singapore
> Government to drop all charges against him, to return his confiscated
> passport, to restore his right to travel freely abroad, and to permit
> him to exercise his democratic rights both within and outside the
> country of Singapore.
>
> ***********************************************************************
>
> The following is the statement Dr. Chee sent to the Fourth Assembly in
> Istanbul after Singaporean officials stopped him from leaving the
> country to attend:
>
> ***********************************************************************
>
> Statement of Dr. Chee Soon Juan to Fourth Assembly, World Movement for
> Democracy
> April 2, 2006
> Dear colleagues and fellow defenders of democracy,
> I wish I could be there at the Fourth World Movement for Democracy
> Assembly to join you to continue the important work of expanding
> democracy and human rights in the world. This exciting event has
> been, and will continue to be, an occasion when we all come to
> re-charge our batteries and take home with us new ideas and alliances
> with which to continue our common struggle for democracy.
> Unfortunately, I was prevented from leaving Singapore when I arrived
> at the airport to fly to Istanbul. Immigration officials seized my
> passport, effectively placing me under city arrest.
> The only way that I can get back my passport and be allowed to travel
> again is to agree to pay Singapore’s two former prime ministers, Lee
> Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, US$300,000 that was awarded to them by the
> corrupt judiciary in a defamation suit. I was just imprisoned for
> eight days the week before for criticizing the judiciary for not being
> independent of the executive.
> Because I am unable to pay Lee and Goh the money, I have been declared
> bankrupt. In 1993, I already paid US$300,000 in another defamation
> suit. At that time I was sued for saying that my sacking from the
> university where I was then teaching was politically motivated. I had
> joined the opposition just three months before my dismissal. My wife
> and I had to sell our house, car and other possessions to make good
> the payment.
> In the present circumstances, I have indicated to the authorities that
> I have nothing left to pay to the two former prime ministers, who are,
> by the way, multi-millionaires from the lavish salaries they pay
> themselves as cabinet ministers. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Lee
> Kuan Yew’s son, is paid more than the U.S. president, British prime
> minister, German chancellor, French president, and the Italian prime
> minister combined!
> The little income that I make from selling my books goes towards
> supporting my family. It doesn’t make sense for me to deprive my
> children of their needs in order to pay Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong
> money that they obviously do not need.
> The authorities are using my inability to pay Lee and Goh as an excuse
> to ban me from traveling and attending conferences like this one.
> This is a violation of my human rights. In addition, as long as I am
> bankrupt I am disqualified from standing for elections or helping my
> party colleagues in election campaigning. Under the law my bankruptcy
> could last indefinitely.
> We are expecting a general election in Singapore sometime over the
> next two months. Already the vote-buying and intimidation is underway.
> The ruling party is giving out as much as US$1,000 of public money to
> voters in the guise of bonuses. It is also intimidating voters by
> saying that if its candidates are not elected, their housing estates
> will not receive public funds for the upgrading and building of public
> amenities.
> These are the corrupt and undemocratic ways the Singapore government
> adopts to ensure its hold on power. It is my hope that the world
> community of democratic forces assembled in Istanbul will pay more
> attention to the dismal state of political affairs and violation of
> human rights in Singapore.
> But despite all the difficulties that we face, I remain hopeful that
> freedom and democracy will come to our shores just as they have for
> many of yours. This is because as democrats, our spirit will never
> allow us to go on bended knees before despots. Our consciences ache
> when we see injustice meted out to our peoples, and we cannot, and
> will not, look the other way when our human rights are torn apart.
> To those of you who are also struggling to bring freedom to your
> countries, I stand in solidarity, comforted by the knowledge that our
> unity will bring us even greater strength to endure the blood, sweat
> and tears we shed for democracy. To this end, I remain
> Yours abidingly,
> Chee Soon Juan
> Secretary-General
> Singapore Democratic Party
> and
> Chairman
> Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia
>
> **********************************************************************
>
> To learn more about this story, go to:
> http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/10/asia/
> AS_GEN_Singapore_Opposition.php
>
> To see past alerts on this case from the World Movement for Democracy,
> go to:
> http://www.wmd.org/democracyalerts/mar1506.html
>
> ***********************************************************************
>
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>
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> Endowment for Democracy as the Secretariat of the World Movement for
> Democracy.
>
>
>
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