li shengwu
I have an announcement to make about my legal case in Singapore.
The government claims that my friends-only Facebook post "scandalized the judiciary". The true scandal is the misuse of state resources to repress private speech. In the course of this three-year prosecution, the Singapore Attorney General's chambers has written thousands of pages of legal documents, suppressed parts of my defence affidavit, and demanded that I reveal to them all of my friends on Facebook.
Back in January, I decided that I would not dignify the government’s prosecution by continuing to respond. Even without my participation, it took six more months to arrive at a verdict, long enough for the government to mishandle a pandemic and hold an election.
I have decided to pay the fine, in order to buy some peace and quiet. Paying the fine avoids giving the Singapore government an easy excuse to attack me and my family.
I do not admit guilt. I have never denied writing what I wrote, to my friends in a private Facebook post. I disagree that my words were illegal. Moreover, civilized countries should not fine or jail their citizens for private comments on the court system.