Govt refutes Kuan Yew’s grandson’s claim
CAMBRIDGE (Massachusetts): A grandson of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s late founding father and ruler for more than three decades, said he left the city state last month after friends expressed concerns he might be detained by the authorities in a contempt of court case.
“In Singapore, it is possible that one can be detained and interrogated without a lawyer,” said Li Shengwu, whose uncle is the nation’s current prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong. “My friends had warned me that they were concerned for my safety if I remained in Singapore.”
The prime minister’s press secretary Chang Li Lin said it was “not accurate” to make points about detention and interrogation. “This is a well-established legal process. Clear laws and procedures apply to all cases of contempt, including this case involving Mr Li. The courts will decide on the merits of the case.:
Li departed from the city state on July 23 to return to the United States. Two days earlier, the Attorney-General’s Chambers in Singapore had sent him a letter demanding he issue an apology and purge a July 15 Facebook post in which he had said “the Singapore government is very litigious and has a pliant court system”.
In that letter, senior state counsel Francis Ng said the post was “an egregious and baseless attack” on the Singapore legal system. He asked Li to sign a declaration that he had made false allegations, was in contempt of the judiciary and to apologise unreservedly.
Li’s troubles are related to a family feud that has erupted between Lee Kuan Yew’s three children over the fate of Lee’s house. The dispute has been simmering since Lee Kuan Yew died in 2015, but exploded into public view recently.
Li’s father, Lee Hsien Yang, and his aunt, Lee Wei Ling, have accused their older brother, the prime minister, of opposing their father’s wish as stated in his will to have the house demolished. They said he wanted to turn it into a monument. The two siblings had also claimed that “the organs of the state” had been used against them in the dispute.
Li, 32, said he had been in Singapore to attend a friend’s birthday celebrations, but missed those because of his sudden departure. Li said in a previous interview earlier this month that he had no intention of returning to Singapore and would defend himself with legal representation in the city state.