Bully the Peasants until like this? The Familee really think they own Peesai?
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Nair fined $3k for abusing cops and disorderly act
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Elena Chong, Court Correspondent
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Gopalan Nair, now a US citizen, is appealing and is on $8,000 bail. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A FORMER Singaporean lawyer Gopalan Nair was fined $3,000 yesterday for disorderly behaviour and using abusive words on police officers.
District Judge James Leong found him guilty of hurling expletives at police officers in the course of their duties on July 4.
He had been stopped by the police while trying to hail a taxi at the junction of Bukit Timah Road and Race Course Road.
=> How would u react if u're being "disturbed" by the very poodles who are supposed to protect the man in the street from harassment? This only happened in the medieval societies when the rich landlords had control over life and death of the Peasants! But it happened in "modern day" Peesai!
He was also convicted of behaving in a disorderly manner by gesticulating with his hands and shouting that evening.
Nair, 58, who is now an American citizen practising as a lawyer in California, is appealing.
It is not his first brush with the law. In 1991, he was fined $8,000 for contempt of court for remarks he made questioning the independence of the Subordinate Courts.
That year, he had stood for the general election in Bukit Merah under the Workers' Party ticket and lost.
Nair is not out of the woods yet as he faces trial in the High Court on Monday for allegedly insulting two Supreme Court judges in previous separate incidents.
Yesterday, the prosecution asked the court to impose a jail sentence on Nair for abusing the officers.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Peter Koy cited three aggravating factors - the racial nature of the words he used, Nair's lack of remorse and his conduct in court.
'In our multiracial society, such verbal abuse is serious. Offences which potentially disturb this racial harmony need to be appropriately dealt with,'' he said.
But Judge Leong decided not to jail Nair, saying a fine was the norm in such cases unless there were strong or exceptional factors. He felt that Nair's offences did not warrant a custodial sentence.
Nair, who represented himself at the 18-day trial, said the entire episode was a political exercise intended to intimidate Singaporeans into not criticising the Singapore Government.
He said he did not accept the court's guilty verdict as he had not committed any offence. It was a minor incident, he said.
'Arguments, even though heated, happen every day between people and the police, not only in Singapore but throughout the world,' he added. He is out on $8,000 bail pending the appeal. He could have been fined up to $5,000 or jailed for up to one year for using abusive words on public servants. The disorderly behaviour charge carries a maximum fine of $1,000 or one month in jail.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Nair fined $3k for abusing cops and disorderly act
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Elena Chong, Court Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Gopalan Nair, now a US citizen, is appealing and is on $8,000 bail. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A FORMER Singaporean lawyer Gopalan Nair was fined $3,000 yesterday for disorderly behaviour and using abusive words on police officers.
District Judge James Leong found him guilty of hurling expletives at police officers in the course of their duties on July 4.
He had been stopped by the police while trying to hail a taxi at the junction of Bukit Timah Road and Race Course Road.
=> How would u react if u're being "disturbed" by the very poodles who are supposed to protect the man in the street from harassment? This only happened in the medieval societies when the rich landlords had control over life and death of the Peasants! But it happened in "modern day" Peesai!
He was also convicted of behaving in a disorderly manner by gesticulating with his hands and shouting that evening.
Nair, 58, who is now an American citizen practising as a lawyer in California, is appealing.
It is not his first brush with the law. In 1991, he was fined $8,000 for contempt of court for remarks he made questioning the independence of the Subordinate Courts.
That year, he had stood for the general election in Bukit Merah under the Workers' Party ticket and lost.
Nair is not out of the woods yet as he faces trial in the High Court on Monday for allegedly insulting two Supreme Court judges in previous separate incidents.
Yesterday, the prosecution asked the court to impose a jail sentence on Nair for abusing the officers.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Peter Koy cited three aggravating factors - the racial nature of the words he used, Nair's lack of remorse and his conduct in court.
'In our multiracial society, such verbal abuse is serious. Offences which potentially disturb this racial harmony need to be appropriately dealt with,'' he said.
But Judge Leong decided not to jail Nair, saying a fine was the norm in such cases unless there were strong or exceptional factors. He felt that Nair's offences did not warrant a custodial sentence.
Nair, who represented himself at the 18-day trial, said the entire episode was a political exercise intended to intimidate Singaporeans into not criticising the Singapore Government.
He said he did not accept the court's guilty verdict as he had not committed any offence. It was a minor incident, he said.
'Arguments, even though heated, happen every day between people and the police, not only in Singapore but throughout the world,' he added. He is out on $8,000 bail pending the appeal. He could have been fined up to $5,000 or jailed for up to one year for using abusive words on public servants. The disorderly behaviour charge carries a maximum fine of $1,000 or one month in jail.
