|
|
|
The
Lees' objections to the SDP's AEIC
Singapore
Democrats
25 Feb 08
AFFIDAVIT
EVIDENCE IN CHIEF
I,
Chee Soon Juan, do hereby make oath and say as follows:
1.
I am the Defendant in this suit.
2. I am filing this AEIC
on my own behalf and on behalf of Defendants No. 1 (Singapore
Democratic Party) and No. 2 (Chee Siok Chin).
3. The
Plaintiffs were awarded summary judgment in a hearing where our
counsel was not present as he was ill.
Lees'
objections
to para 3: Hearsay/Irrelevant
4.
In the first place we do not accept the summary judgment handed
down by the Courts. Despite the fact that we had filed our
defence showing that there were triable issues and disputes of
facts, Judge Belinda Ang awarded summary judgment to the
plaintiffs.
5. This meant that there was no trial and the
defendants were not afforded the opportunity to call our
witnesses, cross-examine the plaintiffs, and conduct our defence
in open court.
6. This is a travesty of justice.
Lees'
objections to para 4 to 6: Irrelevant/Scandalous.
7.
Any claim for damages must be backed up by an assessment of the
plaintiffs' reputation. The question is to find a independent and
unbiased assessment of these reputations.
Objection
to para 7: Legal submissions.
8.
To be sure the plaintiffs' reputations have been built up on the
backs of a controlled and subservient media. The media would sing
their praises leading everyone to conclude that their reputation
is sterling.
9. There is little coverage and analysis of
the political machinations of the plaintiffs by Singapore's
media.
10. In other words: self-praise is no praise.
11.
The foreign media, that is, those that do not circulate in
Singapore and hence out of the punitive reach of the plaintiffs,
hold a much more critical view.
Objections
to para 8 to 11: Opinion/Irrelevant/Scandalous.
12.
In the legal realm, Lee Kuan Yew had sued the late Devan Nair in
Canada in 1999 for defamation over an article entitled "Singapore
Sage" published in the Globe
and Mail,
a Canadian newspaper.
13. Nair countersued, claiming
damages for the tort of abuse of process.
14. Lee Kuan
Yew applied for an order to strike out Nair's counterclaim,
saying that Nair's counterclaim was "scandalous, vexatious
or an abuse of process of the Court."
15. The
presiding judge, Greer J., dismissed Lee's application, ruling
that "Lee's action is brought in a country that prides
itself in allowing freedom of expression." (See Exhibit
collectively marked CSJ-1)
Objections
to para 12 to 15: Irrelevant/Scandalous.
16.
This is another indication that there is no freedom of expression
in Singapore which lends weight to the argument that the
plaintiffs' reputations have been inflated by the Lees
themselves.
Objection
to para 16: Irrelevant/Opinion/Legal submissions.
17.
Several international groups such as Amnesty International,
Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch,
National Endowment for Democracy, Council for a Community of
Democracy, Lawyers Rights Watch Canada, International Commission
of Jurists, Human Rights First, and the US State Department have
criticised the Singapore Government, headed by the plaintiffs,
for not respecting the freedom of expression in
Singapore.
Objection
to para 17: Irrelevant/Scandalous/Hearsay.
18.
This again supports the defendants' argument that the reputations
of the plaintiffs are not what the Lees claim them to be. They
must also be seen in the context of the lack of freedom of
expression in Singapore which curtails criticism, as well as the
publication of such criticism, of the Lees.
Objection
to para 18: Legal submissions/Irrelevant/Scandalous.
19.
On the other hand the Internet, especially the online forums
where the Government has little control over discussions, are
rife with robust criticism of the plaintiffs.
20. This is
an illustration of what the layperson thinks given an independent
and free forum.
Objections
to para 19 to 20: Irrelevant/Scandalous.
21.
Another way that the plaintiffs' reputations are assessed is
through general elections.
22. With the elections system,
in the words of Lee Kuan Yew, "engineered" to ensure a
PAP victory, is it any wonder that the Lees continue to be
re-elected at every election? (See Exhibit collectively marked
CSJ-1)
23. Lee Kuan Yew has indicated that the
one-man-one-vote system has to be changed if necessary.
24.
Lee Hsien Loong has said that if there are more opposition
members of parliament, he, as prime minister, will have to "fix"
the opposition and "buy" support (See Exhibit
collectively marked CSJ-1).
25. The Elections Department
which conducts elections is supervised by the Prime Minister's
Office.
Objections
to para 21 to 25: Irrelevant/Hearsay/Scandalous.
26.
The reputations of the plaintiffs must be assessed by looking at
the entire spectrum of views, not just a selective and highly
skewed picture promulgated by the Singapore Press Holdings, Media
Corp and the election system.
27. Only when such a
comprehensive vantage is considered can an accurate and unbiased
assessment of their reputations be made.
Objections
to para 26 to 27: Irrelevant/Scandalous.
|
|
