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AGC seeks High Court permission to launch contempt of court bid against blogger Alex Au
Published on Nov 25, 2013
The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) will on Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013, seek the High Court's permission to launch a contempt of court action against blogger Alex Au Wai Pang. -- FILE PHOTO: ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S CHAMBERS
By Walter Sim
The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) will on Tuesday seek the High Court's permission to launch a contempt of court action against blogger Alex Au Wai Pang.
The AGC has accused the 61-year-old blogger, who runs sociopolitical blog Yawning Bread, of having "scandalised the judiciary" of Singapore in two articles he published in October.
They are: "377 Wheels Come Off Supreme Court's Best-Laid Plans", which was published on Oct 5, and "Church Sacks Employee And Sues Government - On One Ground Right, On Another Ground Wrong", which was published on Oct 12.
In the Oct 5 post, Mr Au is said to have accused the Supreme Court of "deliberately manipulating hearing dates", while in the Oct 12 post, he is said to have alleged that the judiciary was incompetent of making independent judgments
Re: AGC seeks High Court permission to launch contempt of court bid against blogger A
Contempt: Hearing on blogger put off to today
Mr Au is accused of "scandalising the judiciary" in two articles he wrote and posted on his site.
Walter Sim
The Straits Times
Friday, Nov 29, 2013
The High Court adjourned for a day the hearing on the Attorney- General's Chambers' (AGC) application for leave to start contempt action against sociopolitical blogger Alex Au Wai Pang, after one of his lawyers showed up at Tuesday's closed-door hearing.
Justice Belinda Ang ordered the delay for parties to make submissions on whether the defence is allowed to sit in at this preliminary stage.
"We will be arguing that we should be allowed to oppose the application at the early stage," lawyer Choo Zheng Xi of Peter Low LLC, who turned up for the hearing on behalf of Mr Au, told The Straits Times. "Alternatively, we should be allowed to hold a watching brief for our client, meaning that we can sit in for the hearing, but we don't make submissions."
The AGC has accused the 61-year-old of "scandalising the judiciary" in two articles he wrote and published on his site, Yawning Bread, last month.
But before it can start action, the AGC must let the court decide if there is enough basis for a case. That was the reason for Tuesday's ex-parte hearing, which did not require the presence of the other party - in this case Mr Au, or his representatives.
The articles in question - "377 Wheels Come Off Supreme Court's Best-Laid Plans" on Oct5, and "Church Sacks Employee And Sues Government - On One Ground Right, On Another Ground Wrong" on Oct 12 - dealt with alleged discrimination against homosexuals.
In the earlier post, Mr Au allegedly accused the Supreme Court of "deliberately manipulating hearing dates". A week later, he alleged the judiciary was incapable of making independent judgments.
Both posts are still on the site, which Mr Au, a gay rights activist and the vice-president of migrant workers' group Transient Workers Count Too, began in 1996.
The AGC said it had already given Mr Au "a chance" in July last year, when he put up a post alleging that well-connected people received special treatment in court. The blogger was let off with a warning after he withdrew the article and apologised.
In January, Mr Au apologised for defaming Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in an article on his blog. Last year, he was asked to remove a defamatory comment made against Law Minister K. Shanmugam.
Re: AGC seeks High Court permission to launch contempt of court bid against blogger A
Updated: 12/05/2013 18:11 | By Channel NewsAsia
Blogger Alex Au’s court hearing will be open to public: AGC
SINGAPORE: The Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) has responded to the "Statement on AGC Action against Alex Au" purportedly signed by 170 persons and sent to the media by Mr Jolovan Wham on November 29, 2013.
The AGC noted that the statement acknowledges that it is important to uphold public confidence in the judiciary, and states that "if Mr Au has erred, then his claims should be rebutted in public."
The AGC said it agrees with this stand.
It stressed that the article "377 Wheels Come Off Supreme Court's Best Laid Plans" by Mr Au contained allegations of wrongdoing by senior judicial officers and these allegations severely undermined their standing, and the authority of the judiciary as a whole.
It said the hearing to determine whether the article is in contempt of court will be open to the public, and Mr Au will have every opportunity to rebut the charge against him.
The AGC emphasised that the constitutional right to free speech and expression is not an absolute right, and that it is subject to limits expressly provided for in the Constitution.
These limits are necessary to protect the reputations of private and public individuals, and the standing of key state institutions, including the judiciary. - CNA/nd
Re: AGC seeks High Court permission to launch contempt of court bid against blogger A
Updated: 12/17/2013 13:43 | By Channel NewsAsia
AGC seeks permission to proceed against Alex Au over 2nd article
SINGAPORE: The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) is seeking the Court of Appeal's permission to proceed against blogger Alex Au for contempt of court over a second article that he published in October.
AGC said it had put in an application on December 13, and the hearing of the application was fixed for the week of 24 February 2014.
Explaining its application, AGC said: "It is in the public interest that the law in this area is clear, so that there is clarity on what material is, and what material is not, in contempt of court."
The statement said the application is ex parte in nature, which means that the application will be heard by the Court of Appeal without Mr Au's presence.
But if the Court of Appeal grants permission to proceed over the second article, AGC said, Mr Au will have every opportunity to respond to the case against him.
"The purpose of the application before the Court of Appeal is to allow the court to assess whether there is sufficient basis to proceed against Au in respect of the second article, notwithstanding the refusal of leave by the High Court," said the AGC statement.
AGC had sought the High Court's permission to proceed against the blogger, also known as Au Wai Pang, for contempt of court over two articles that he published on his yawningbread blog in October, one on the 5th and the second on the 12th.
On November 27, the High Court granted permission for AGC to proceed in relation with the first article entitled "377 wheels come off Supreme Court's best laid plans" but not the second one, with the title of "Church sacks employee and sues government - on one ground right, on another ground wrong". - CNA/al
