Harvard economics professor Li Shengwu has just posted an update on his Facebook page, stating that the Singapore government is still prosecuting him “after all this time”.
Mr Li’s update is in response to his friends who have been asking about his situation.
He further adds that he has just filed his defence affidavit.
According to Mr Li who is currently overseas, his legal team has taken advice from Lord David Philip Pannick over the past two years.
Lord Pannick, Queen’s Counsel, is a leading barrister in the United Kingdom, and crossbencher in the House of Lords.
Pannick successfully led his team arguing against the illegality of the Government’s prorogation of Parliament in September 2019. In the ruling on the morning of 24 September 2019, the UK supreme court unanimously judged that the Prime Minister Boris Johnson had given unlawful advice to the Queen.
“I’m grateful for Lord Pannick’s guidance and help, even as he has been in the midst of winning a landmark constitutional case in the UK.” said Mr Li in his Facebook post.
For those who are unaware, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) initiated legal proceedings against Mr Li over “contempt of court” on 21 Aug 2017, in which he had privately posted a statement on his Facebook, saying that “the Singapore government is very litigious and has a pliant court system”.
The post was related to the high-profile Lee family dispute surrounding the Oxley Road home of Li’s late grandfather and Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew, in which his father, Mr Lee Hsien Yang, his aunt Dr Lee Wei Ling, and uncle, Mr Lee Hsien Loong were involved.
In a Facebook post dated 3 Sep last year, Mr Lee Hsien Yang pointed out the apparent unfairness in the AGC’s treatment of his son, Mr Li Shengwu, stating that despite “much stronger criticism of Singapore courts has recently been published in some international media and widely shared public posts”, the AGC, in his view, has not taken any legal action against such entities for publishing and spreading such posts.
Mr Lee Hsien Yang also highlighted that proceedings are unjustly held against his son over “his private communications”, as the Facebook post was “shared only with his friends”, unlike the public criticism often aired by international media and even other individuals.
Earlier this year, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of the High Court’s decision to allow the AGC to serve papers on him regarding a contempt of court case whilst he is in the United States on Mon (1 Apr).
