Justice Tay Yong Kwang of the Singapore High Court has ruled against the …
Wall St Journal over editorials published in June and July that questioned the city state’s judiciary’s independence from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the ruling People’s Action Party, with regard to a letter to the editor written by Chee Soon Juan, head of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party.
To AALE this comes as no surprise, although it is somewhat of an irony that we learn of the ruling from the Wall St Journal’s legal blog .
You can read the full post here full of the standard Singapore argument that anybody with an opinion about the Singaporean judiciary is somehow damaging the country’s judicial system..
The WSJ’s legal blog reports:
The editorials and the letter “contained insinuations of bias, lack of impartiality and lack of independence and implied that the judiciary is subservient to Lee and/or the PAP and is a tool for silencing political dissent,” Justice Tay ruled. “There can be no doubt that allegations of the nature mentioned above would immediately cast doubts on the judiciary in Singapore and undermine public confidence.”
Read the full story here and expect to see a similar ruling next year against The Economist, Time , Newsweek.. pick your publication. They’ll be sure to rule against one of them at some point for stating the blindingly obvious.
