Singapore’s Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has commenced legal proceedings in the High Court for an order of committal against Chew Peng Ee, also known as Leslie Chew, for committing contempt of court by scandalising the judiciary of the Republic of Singapore.

In a statement, the AGC said: “The present legal proceedings, which are aimed at protecting the administration of justice in the Republic of Singapore and upholding the integrity of one of our key public institutions, have been commenced in connection with Leslie Chew’s publication of various comics as part of the comic series ‘Demon-cratic Singapore’ on Facebook .

“The first stage of these proceedings involved an application to a judge in  chambers for leave (i.e. the court’s permission) to apply for the order of committal (the leave application), as required by the Rules of Court.

“The leave application was heard ex parte, that is to say, in the absence of the other party, before a judge in chambers on Tuesday.”

It said the leave application was made in connection with five comics; after having heard submissions from the AGC, the High Court granted leave to apply for the order of committal in connection with four of the comics, which Leslie Chew published on July 20, 2011, Jan 3, 2012, Jan 5, 2012 and June 16, 2012.

The next stage of the proceedings involves the filing of an application to apply for the order of committal (the committal application).

The committal application was filed by the AGC on July 23, 2013 and were to be served on Leslie Chew together with the other documents prescribed by the Rules of Court yesterday afternoon.

The committal application has currently been fixed for hearing before the High Court on Aug 12, 2013.

- Bernama