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M Ravi
to tour Europe to campaign for human rights and abolition of
mandatory death sentence in Singapore
2 Jul
06
Lawyer
Mr M Ravi, will embark on a speaking tour in Europe to promote
awareness about human rights violations in Singapore and to
campaign against the imminent execution of two Africans, Nigerian
Amara Tochi and South African Okele Nelson Malachy.
Mr
Ravi's first stop is Budapest, Hungary where he will participate
in a human rights course at the Central European University
organized by the Open Society Institute. The five-day course will
cover subjects on the teaching of human rights, the organizing of
group protests, the reform of the rule of law, and the advocacy
of human rights & good governance.
Following the
stint in Hungary, Mr Ravi will visit Germany beginning 15 July
2006 where he will meet with the media and civil society leaders
to brief them about the internationally condemned mandatory death
sentence meted to small-time drug peddlers in Singapore.
He
will encourage the Germans to help campaign for the Nigerian and
South African. In 2002, Ms Julia Bohl, a German national, was let
off with a three-year jail term after the German authorities
intervened and pressured the Singapore government not to hang
her.
From 20-26 July 2006, Mr Ravi will visit Sweden and
the UK where he will meet with parliamentarians, political
parties, journalists, and NGOs to alert them to the on-going
abuse of human rights in Singapore such as the criminal
prosecution of Dr Chee Soon Juan, Mr Gandhi Ambalam, and the Mr
Yap Keng, and the use of defamation suits to silence PAP critics.
He will also continue his advocacy for the abolition of the
mandatory death sentence in Singapore during his visit to these
countries.
In Sweden, Mr Ravi will meet with three leading
legal experts on defamation law and freedom of expression to
discuss with them the summary judgment that Messrs Lee Kuan Yew
and Lee Hsien Loong are taking out in their suit against Dr Chee
Soon Juan and Ms Chee Siok Chin.
In the UK, Mr Ravi will
meet with international NGOs and Members of the European
Parliament to urge them to pay more attention to the continuing
suppression of democratic rights in Singapore. He will also
attempt to meet with Mr Tan Wah Piow, a former student leader in
Singapore and now lawyer in the UK.
En route to Europe, Mr
Ravi will stopover in Hong Kong to attend a conference on the
death penalty organized by Amnesty International. He will also
meet with lawmakers and human rights activists there to encourage
greater cooperation between democracy advocates in Hong Kong and
Singapore.
At the various stops, Mr Ravi will conduct
press conferences to bring to the attention of the European
public the violations of human rights in Singapore. This website
will update readers on the developments.
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