For Justice and Equality

Dear Fellow Singaporeans,

I was arrested on 20 Nov 18 when I was about to leave for a short trip. I was subsequently charged for an allegedly defamatory article that TOC had published, which was about the sworn statement by the Lee siblings denouncing their elder brother.

The sworn statement contained serious allegations about State organs being “hijacked” for personal vendetta, which remains unresolved to this very day.

Though I do not live with my mother, it didn’t bother CID special unit officers to ransack her home and confiscate devices that did not belong to myself. Dr Vincent Wijeysingha kindly gave me his old phone and laptop to tide over temporarily, on the request of Ms Teo Soh Lung.

Since then, things have been spiralling downwards and I have not been able to secure employment as State media repeatedly splashes my photos all over, with misleading headlines and news but not that of my accuser, the prosecution witness, who had been convicted for fraud.

Ever since the State charged me for criminal defamation in 2018, I have not been able to find employment. In Singapore, the odds of finding employment are stacked against a person even before conviction. The accused is severely handicapped in finding jobs and falls into a financial abyss as he awaits trial. My predicament is encapsulated in a Channel News Asia article which highlighted the challenges that accused people face while waiting for their day in court. The process can take years, “leaving the lives of the accused in limbo and their future uncertain”: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/the...

I have exhausted the last of my savings for my grandmother’s funeral last month.

The second part of my trial commences next Monday, 26 Apr 2021 and I’m appealing to your generosity to help me tide through this extremely difficult period which started more than two years ago when I was first charged. The case is expected to continue for another couple of years to the Court of Appeal. I will fight my case on the uncompromising principles of justice and equality for all before the law.

My learned lawyer Mr M. Ravi who is representing me pro bono and myself shall stive to uphold these principles and hold those who exercise unfettered and unchecked powers to account (in the words of Justice Aedit Abdullah). You may read more about my case here:

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2020/10/27/crimin...

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2019/09/12/court-...

https://www.google.com.sg/amp/s/sg.news.yahoo.com/...

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crim...

https://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/Headlines/toc-edi...

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2020/07/23/given-...

https://www.allsingaporestuff.com/2021/01/20/danie...

Thank you very much!