Singapore charges cartoonist for mocking officials
The government of Singapore has charged a political cartoonist that lampoons Singaporean officials on Facebook with contempt of court. The cartoonist, Leslie Chew, operates a Facebook page called “Demon-cratic Singapore” that currently has about 30,000 followers.
Though Chew is quick to claim that his sketches are “100% fictional” and therefore not to be taken seriously, it is quite obvious that his criticism is genuine.
The specific charge of contempt of court refers to several of Chew’s sketches that criticised the court system, which the Singapore Attorney General accused of “scandalising the judiciary of the Republic of Singapore.” Chew has already been charged with sedition for an earlier series of sketches, for which he is currently out on bail.
Singapore has long taken a tough stance against criticism of the government. In 2011, a resident British writer was jailed for six weeks for writing a book about the death penalty in Singapore. The government sees such action as necessary to maintain the proper degree of public respect for authority.
In this interest, Singapore recently introduced laws that give the government authority to license, and refuse to license, all websites that regularly publish news about the city-state. The ruling People’s Action Party reportedly blames recent losses at the polls on misinformation in the news media and is therefore hoping to remedy this problem.
The government of Singapore has charged a political cartoonist that lampoons Singaporean officials on Facebook with contempt of court. The cartoonist, Leslie Chew, operates a Facebook page called “Demon-cratic Singapore” that currently has about 30,000 followers. Though Chew is quick to claim that his sketches are “100% fictional” and therefore not to be taken seriously, it is quite obvious that his criticism is genuine. The specific charge of contempt of court refers to several of Chew’s sketches that criticised the court system, which the Singapore Attorney General accused of “scandalising the judiciary of the Republic of Singapore.” Chew has already...
The government of Singapore has charged a political cartoonist that lampoons Singaporean officials on Facebook with contempt of court. The cartoonist, Leslie Chew, operates a Facebook page called “Demon-cratic Singapore” that currently has about 30,000 followers.
Though Chew is quick to claim that his sketches are “100% fictional” and therefore not to be taken seriously, it is quite obvious that his criticism is genuine.
The specific charge of contempt of court refers to several of Chew’s sketches that criticised the court system, which the Singapore Attorney General accused of “scandalising the judiciary of the Republic of Singapore.” Chew has already been charged with sedition for an earlier series of sketches, for which he is currently out on bail.
Singapore has long taken a tough stance against criticism of the government. In 2011, a resident British writer was jailed for six weeks for writing a book about the death penalty in Singapore. The government sees such action as necessary to maintain the proper degree of public respect for authority.
In this interest, Singapore recently introduced laws that give the government authority to license, and refuse to license, all websites that regularly publish news about the city-state. The ruling People’s Action Party reportedly blames recent losses at the polls on misinformation in the news media and is therefore hoping to remedy this problem.
