<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Nov 14, 2008
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Nair apologises <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>He also withdraws claims about judge, will remove offending blog postings </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Chin Lian
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Nair has been warned against launching attacks against the judiciary in future. -- ST FILE PHOTO
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->FORMER Singaporean lawyer Gopalan Nair has made an unreserved apology for offending statements that he made about the judiciary and a district judge during a recent trial and on his blog.
Nair, now an American citizen, also unconditionally withdrew the allegations he made against District Judge James Leong as well as statements alleging that the Singapore courts are beholden to the Government.
He did so on Wednesday when he appeared at the Subordinate Courts for a hearing on an application by the Attorney-General to start contempt of court proceedings against him.
Nair - who attended the hearing although he is serving a three-month jail term for insulting High Court judge Belinda Ang in a blog posting on May 29 - represented himself.
Details of what transpired at Wednesday's hearing were contained in a statement released by the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) yesterday.
The statement said that in view of Nair's apology, and his undertaking not to make such statements in the future and to remove the offending blog posts, the Attorney-General did not press for the 58-year-old to be jailed for his offence.
The 90-minute hearing on Wednesday was the result of comments Nair made during a trial in a subordinate court before District Judge Leong. The trial was for offences under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.
During that trial, held on various dates between July 24 and Sept 5, Nair 'attacked the independence and impartiality of the Singapore Judiciary and District Judge James Leong by stating, inter alia, that the courts were being abused for political ends', the AGC said.
Nair also 'attacked the independence and impartiality of the Singapore Judiciary and District Judge James Leong in his blog Singapore Dissident'.
Nair's comments online were made in two postings: one on Sept 1 headlined 'Another classic case of trying to use the courts to silence dissent'; and a second on Sept 6 titled 'Convicted'.
The AGC said that at Wednesday's hearing before District Judge Leslie Chew, Nair 'admitted in open court that he had made the utterances and statements that were punishable as contempt of court'.
'He then went on to offer an unreserved apology to the court and to District Judge James Leong for the offending utterances and statements made by him.'
The AGC statement added that Nair 'proceeded to state, in public and on record, that he unconditionally withdrew the allegations made against District Judge James Leong and any statements imputing that the Singapore courts are beholden to the Government'.
Nair 'further undertook in public not to make such statements in future and to remove the offending blog posts as soon as practicable'.
The AGC's statement said District Judge Chew found that Nair 'had purged his contempt and, in view of (Nair's) remorse, admonished him in open court'.
Nair was also 'warned against launching attacks against the Singapore Judiciary in future', and ordered to pay legal costs to the Attorney-General.
The Attorney-General, represented by Deputy Solicitor-General Jeffrey Chan and a team of legal officers, asked for $5,000 in legal costs.
Nair had been fined $3,000 in September by District Judge Leong for disorderly behaviour and using abusive words on police officers, and in a separate case later that same month, received a three-month jail term for insulting Justice Belinda Ang in his May 29 blog posting. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Nair apologises <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>He also withdraws claims about judge, will remove offending blog postings </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Chin Lian
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Nair has been warned against launching attacks against the judiciary in future. -- ST FILE PHOTO
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->FORMER Singaporean lawyer Gopalan Nair has made an unreserved apology for offending statements that he made about the judiciary and a district judge during a recent trial and on his blog.
Nair, now an American citizen, also unconditionally withdrew the allegations he made against District Judge James Leong as well as statements alleging that the Singapore courts are beholden to the Government.
He did so on Wednesday when he appeared at the Subordinate Courts for a hearing on an application by the Attorney-General to start contempt of court proceedings against him.
Nair - who attended the hearing although he is serving a three-month jail term for insulting High Court judge Belinda Ang in a blog posting on May 29 - represented himself.
Details of what transpired at Wednesday's hearing were contained in a statement released by the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) yesterday.
The statement said that in view of Nair's apology, and his undertaking not to make such statements in the future and to remove the offending blog posts, the Attorney-General did not press for the 58-year-old to be jailed for his offence.
The 90-minute hearing on Wednesday was the result of comments Nair made during a trial in a subordinate court before District Judge Leong. The trial was for offences under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.
During that trial, held on various dates between July 24 and Sept 5, Nair 'attacked the independence and impartiality of the Singapore Judiciary and District Judge James Leong by stating, inter alia, that the courts were being abused for political ends', the AGC said.
Nair also 'attacked the independence and impartiality of the Singapore Judiciary and District Judge James Leong in his blog Singapore Dissident'.
Nair's comments online were made in two postings: one on Sept 1 headlined 'Another classic case of trying to use the courts to silence dissent'; and a second on Sept 6 titled 'Convicted'.
The AGC said that at Wednesday's hearing before District Judge Leslie Chew, Nair 'admitted in open court that he had made the utterances and statements that were punishable as contempt of court'.
'He then went on to offer an unreserved apology to the court and to District Judge James Leong for the offending utterances and statements made by him.'
The AGC statement added that Nair 'proceeded to state, in public and on record, that he unconditionally withdrew the allegations made against District Judge James Leong and any statements imputing that the Singapore courts are beholden to the Government'.
Nair 'further undertook in public not to make such statements in future and to remove the offending blog posts as soon as practicable'.
The AGC's statement said District Judge Chew found that Nair 'had purged his contempt and, in view of (Nair's) remorse, admonished him in open court'.
Nair was also 'warned against launching attacks against the Singapore Judiciary in future', and ordered to pay legal costs to the Attorney-General.
The Attorney-General, represented by Deputy Solicitor-General Jeffrey Chan and a team of legal officers, asked for $5,000 in legal costs.
Nair had been fined $3,000 in September by District Judge Leong for disorderly behaviour and using abusive words on police officers, and in a separate case later that same month, received a three-month jail term for insulting Justice Belinda Ang in his May 29 blog posting. [email protected]
