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Li Shengwu speaks at the 2015 state funeral of his grandfather, Lee Kuan Yew. The academic, who is based in the United States, said he would pay a fine to settle a contempt of court case brought against him by Singapore’s Attorney General’s Chambers. Photo: Handout
AsiaSoutheast Asia

Singapore PM’s nephew Li Shengwu to pay contempt of court fine but won’t admit guilt

  • The Harvard University academic was last week ordered to pay a fine over a 2017 private Facebook post describing Singapore’s justice system as ‘pliant’
  • His father Lee Hsien Yang is engaged in a family feud with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong over the legacy of Singapore’s founding leader Lee Kuan Yew
Singapore
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse
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The grandson of Singapore’s founding leader Lee Kuan Yew and nephew of the current prime minister said on Tuesday he will pay a fine for a Facebook post that questioned the independence of the city’s judiciary.
Li Shengwu, an academic at Harvard University and based in the United States, was ordered to pay a S$15,000 (US$10,900) fine or serve a week in jail by the High Court last month over the 2017 post in which he described the Singapore government as “very litigious and has a pliant court system”.

He said he would pay “in order to buy some peace and quiet” and to avoid giving the government an excuse to attack him and his family but added that he did not admit guilt.

“The government claims that my friends-only Facebook post ‘scandalised the judiciary’. The true scandal is the misuse of state resources to repress private speech,” he wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

“I disagree that my words were illegal. Moreover, civilised countries should not fine or jail their citizens for private comments on the court system.”

The Attorney General’s Chambers had described his post as “an egregious and baseless attack” on the city’s courts.

Li is the eldest son of business executive Lee Hsien Yang, who has been at loggerheads with his brother, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, over their father’s legacy.
He made the Facebook post as their family feud raged publicly following the death of the Lee family patriarch in 2015.

Why are heirs of Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew feuding?

Li’s father joined an opposition party before Singapore’s election last month and campaigned for its candidates, although he did not run.

The ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has governed Singapore since 1959. In the country’s recent general election, it won its 15th straight victory with 83 of 93 seats and 61.2 per cent of the popular vote.
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