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Singapore Blogger Says ‘Catch Me if You Can,’ and They Do

nair.jpgGopalan Nair is a Singapore lawyer turned U.S. citizen and blogger. He runs the blog Singapore Dissident.

The lesson we’ve learned from his story: when we launch AboveTheLaw - Singapore, we’ll need to drop the Judge of the Day feature. Nair has been arrested in Singapore for “insulting a public servant”.

According to a court document, Nair is charged with insulting Justice Belinda Ang Saw Ean last Thursday by sending an email which said she “was throughout prostituting herself during the entire proceedings, by being nothing more than an employee of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his son and carrying out their orders”.

Nair’s lawyer Chia said the comments essentially repeated those Nair made in a recent blog about a defamation case filed by Singapore’s leaders against an opposition party and its members.

In the blog, Nair strongly criticised a three-day legal hearing last week at which Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, testified.

In another post on his blog Saturday, Nair taunted authorities, saying he was in Singapore at a particular hotel, and also gave his phone number.

“I am now within your jurisdiction… What are you going to do about it?” Nair wrote.

Arrest you and charge you, that’s what. Another lesson learned: Don’t go to Singapore and issue a “nah nah nah boo boo” on your blog. Free speech is better practiced without giving your exact coordinates.

US blogger charged in Singapore over ‘prostituting’ comment [Breitbart]

Comments

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1 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, June 3, 2008 11:04 AM

First to zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

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2 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, June 3, 2008 11:31 AM

I think that if anyone sent an email in the US to a judge regarding a pending matter and saying that “"was throughout prostituting herself during the entire proceedings, by being nothing more than an employee [of on of the parties]” there might be hell to pay as well.

In fact, there was a (former) California lawyer who would routinely write such letters to various judges (disciplinary authorities speculated) so they would recuse themselves from her cases (she was disbarred).

But I think she, like the blogger in the post, was just nuts.

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3 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, June 3, 2008 11:31 AM

Can you post the video when they beat him silly with a cane?

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4 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, June 3, 2008 11:37 AM

A technical nit to pick:

Isn't it "nanny-nanny, poo-poo"?

5 Posted by Bob Loblaw | Permalink Tuesday, June 3, 2008 11:39 AM

11:37:

No, it is "nah nah nah boo boo."

At least where I come from.

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6 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, June 3, 2008 11:45 AM

Sidley has let go off at least 20 associates in corporate and this is what Lat posts? Kirkland has also been quietly letting associates (and partners) go - Lat, where is the reporting???

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7 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, June 3, 2008 11:56 AM

11:45 - This was discussed in an older thread. There is no substance to those rumors.

If you have actual, firsthand information, email Lat. Don't start whispering campaigns in the comments.

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8 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, June 3, 2008 12:11 PM

I go with "neener neener poo poo"

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9 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, June 3, 2008 12:15 PM

Guys in my HS insulted public servants all the time. It was no big deal.

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10 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, June 3, 2008 12:22 PM

Lucky for Lat that he publishes in NY. A new NYS law says that if you're ever sued for libel or other speech-related infractions in another country, you can obtain a declaration that your works are protected under Am. law and not have to worry. If you publish in another state, it won't be as clear cut...

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11 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, June 3, 2008 11:02 PM

look at him smiling, stupid..........

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12 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, June 4, 2008 10:10 AM

Thank you for posting this. Singaporeans who believe in democracy and freedom see this arrest as a form of intimidation to coerce free minds into submission. Please continue to help raise awareness on this issue.

For updates, you may want to visit our facebook group Free Gopalan Nair!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16383727671

Regards.

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13 Posted by guest | Permalink Thursday, June 5, 2008 7:14 AM

I'm a Singaporean "who believe[s] in democracy and freedom" and I don't give a fuck.

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