Singapore PM’s nephew Li Shengwu to pay contempt of court fine but won’t admit guilt
- The Harvard University academic was last week ordered to pay a fine over a 2017 private Facebook post describing Singapore’s justice system as ‘pliant’
- His father Lee Hsien Yang is engaged in a family feud with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong over the legacy of Singapore’s founding leader Lee Kuan Yew
He said he would pay “in order to buy some peace and quiet” and to avoid giving the government an excuse to attack him and his family but added that he did not admit guilt.
“The government claims that my friends-only Facebook post ‘scandalised the judiciary’. The true scandal is the misuse of state resources to repress private speech,” he wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
“I disagree that my words were illegal. Moreover, civilised countries should not fine or jail their citizens for private comments on the court system.”
The Attorney General’s Chambers had described his post as “an egregious and baseless attack” on the city’s courts.
Li’s father joined an opposition party before Singapore’s election last month and campaigned for its candidates, although he did not run.