Blogger Jailed in Singapore for Dissent
It appears that an ‘Asian Tiger’ is continuing its policies of censorship and limiting freedom of expression in the blogosphere. Gopalan Nair, a Singaporean-American lawyer whose blog is Singapore Dissident, was arrested on May 31st after criticizing the Supreme Court’s handling of a defamation suit. Nair was held in custody until Wednesday June 4th, when he was released on 2,400 euros bail. Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrest and subsequent jailing, stating:
We urge the authorities to drop charges against Gopalan Nair who has only exercised his right of freedom of expression. This charge is improper and will add to the intimidation of bloggers and Internet users who express themselves about Singapore’s political life.
This week’s events call into question Singapore’s commitment to a democratic system. The country maintains a highly competitive market economy and one of the most clean and transparent governments in Asia. But if Singapore’s People’s Action Party continues its suppression of dissent, the nation may also continue to be labeled a “hybrid” regime or “illiberal” democracy well into the future.
balderdash
June 18, 2008 @ 2:54 pm
making this case as an exception, as it is very apparent this case is a classic Lee family auto cry at its best; i believe in some situations, the essence of censorship in a liberal world of world wide web is a necessity to keep peace and harmony especially in countries where cultural and racial sentiments are at a delicate balance, ( as in most South East Asian countries). censorship and controlling policies can act like traffic lights and traffic rules, and the rules has to be carefully deliberated with sound sense and good faith. Unfortunately, like most policing bodies, what happens now that it is highly abused and corrupted for some cause of personal interest or gain as what happens in China and Burma.
But we must note that the core essence of censorship policy and filtering in the messy world of Internet if applied well, is a powerful tool to negate the negative effects of Internet ultra democracy.