Singapore cops issue warning against LFL for 'contempt of court'
Singapore police have purportedly issued a warning against Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) and its director, Zaid Malek, over their advocacy for Malaysians facing the death penalty in the island republic.
Zaid said police investigations found that their statements regarding the issue amounted to contempt of court, which is punishable with up to three years imprisonment, a fine of up to S$100,000 (RM316,118), or both...
Singapore police have purportedly issued a warning against Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) and its director, Zaid Malek, over their advocacy for Malaysians facing the death penalty in the island republic.
Zaid said police investigations found that their statements regarding the issue amounted to contempt of court, which is punishable with up to three years imprisonment, a fine of up to S$100,000 (RM316,118), or both.
Zaid (above) and LFL were each issued a “conditional warning” letter ordering them to refrain from any criminal conduct for 24 months, starting from the July 6, 2022, date of the letter, failing which they will be charged in court.
According to the letter, the offending statement was purportedly published in an article titled “LFL: Due process denied in dismissal of Malaysian death row prisoners’ suit against Singapore AG” which was published in Malay Mail in February 2020.
The article quoted Zaid criticising a Singapore court’s dismissal of lawsuits brought by death row inmates Gobi Avedian and Datchinamurthy Kataiah against Singapore’s attorney-general.
“My detention and interrogation were acts of calculated intimidation and harassment by the Singapore authorities against me due to my work in representing Malaysian death row prisoners and speaking out against the injustices involving Malaysian prisoners in Singapore’s death penalty regime.
“The actions of the authorities against me prevented me as a lawyer from properly discharging my duties to my clients.
“What is also serious is that I was being detained and probed over a statement issued in Malaysia, and not in Singapore.
“By doing so, the Singapore authorities are now dangerously claiming extra-territorial jurisdiction over Malaysians making statements on Malaysian soil,” Zaid said in a Facebook post last night, in which he recounted hours of interrogation before being issued the warning.
The post included a picture of the purported warning letter issued to him.
Detained at airport
Zaid said he had arrived at Seletar Airport in Singapore on July 4 to provide legal advice to the family of Malaysian death row inmate Kalwant Singh.
Upon arrival, however, the lawyer claimed he was detained by immigration authorities with no explanation for nearly four hours. Then, an officer from Singapore police’s Special Investigation Section arrived at about 6pm and served him a notice compelling him to appear at a police complex on Wednesday.
He claimed it was only then he was told he was being investigated for contempt over LFL’s statements regarding the plight of Malaysian death row inmates in Singaporean prisons.
Zaid was supposedly interrogated for two-and-half hours until 12:30pm at the police complex before being released. He then received a call at 8:30pm that day to return to the complex where he was taken to Special Investigation Section head Roy Lim and was issued the warning letters.
As a result of the police investigation, Zaid claimed he was “obstructed and hampered” from advising Kalwant’s family in the crucial days before Kalwant’s final appeal against hanging hearing and execution, despite informing the police that this was the purpose of his visit.
Kalwant was ultimately hanged yesterday morning, along with his co-accused, Singapore national Norasharee Gous.
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