Opposition Politician Chee Soon Juan loses appeal, now faces jail

From channelnewsasia.com:

Opposition politician Chee Soon Juan loses appeal, now faces jail

SINGAPORE: Opposition politician Chee Soon Juan will be jailed after refusing to pay a fine slapped on him for violating the Bankruptcy Act.

He was fined S$4,000 in February for trying to leave the country without the permission of the official assignee. He then filed for an appeal against the court's decision.

When the case was heard on Tuesday, Chee's lawyer argued that a "benefit of doubt" should be applied to his client.

He said Chee did apply for a permit online, but no clear instruction about not being able to travel was given until after the date he was scheduled to leave Singapore.

The High Court judge, Justice Choo Han Teck, dismissed the appeal. As Chee did not pay his fine by the 5pm deadline on Tuesday, he will be jailed for three weeks.

He will serve his term at the Queenstown Remand Prison.

I had abstracted Dr Chee's list of rejected application from the SDP website, I was surprised by the many many rejections he had gotten and one of which was even to visit his ailing father-in-law!

Dr Chee's travel applications:

Apr 06
World Movement for Democracy (WMD) 4th Assembly
Istanbul, Turkey
Sponsors: WMD
REJECTED

Apr 06
Free Expression in Asian Cyberspace: A Conference of Asian Bloggers, Podcasters and Online News Providers
Manila, Philippines
Sponsors: Southeast Asian Press Alliance
REJECTED

June 06
Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) & Alliance for Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Annual Meeting
Pasay City, Philippines
Sponsors: CALD
REJECTED

Sep 06
Meeting of the International Steering Committee of the NGO Process of the Community of Democracies
New York City, US
Sponsors: World Forum for Democratization in Asia (WFDA)
REJECTED

Sep 06
Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats Executive Committee Meeting
Taipei, Taiwan
Sponsors: CALD
REJECTED

Sep 06
Book Launch of Dr Chee's ‘Political Myths of Singapore’
Gothenburg, Sweden
Sponsors: Swedish International Liberal Center
REJECTED

Oct 06
International Civil Society Forum for Democracy
Doha, Qatar
Sponsors: Qatar Government
REJECTED

Nov 06
Liberal International Congress
Marrakesh, MoroccoSponsors: CALD
REJECTED

Jan 07
Community of Democracies ISC Meeting & the Asia Regional Roundtable
Taipei, Taiwan
Sponsors: Taiwan Foundation for Democracy
REJECTED

Feb 07
Political Party Management and Development Workshop
Jakarta, Indonesia
Sponsors: CALD
REJECTED

Mar 07
Working Group Meeting of the Community of Democracies
Rome, Italy
Sponsors: Italy Government
REJECTED

Mar 07
Travel with family to Taiwan to see ailing father-in-law
Sponsors: Relatives
REJECTED

May 07
Gwangju Annual Human Rights Conference
Gwangju, South Korea
Sponsors: May 18 Memorial Foundation
REJECTED

Jul 07
Defending Civil Society Conference
Bangkok, Thailand
Sponsors: WMD
REJECTED

Sep 07
International Steering Committee meeting for Community for Democracies
New York City, US
Sponsors: WFDA
REJECTED

Sep 07
Executive Committee meeting for Council of Asia Liberals and Democrats (CALD)
Phonom Penh, Cambodia
Sponsors: CALD
REJECTED