Chee to hold demonstrations

SINGAPORE (AP) --- An opposition party plans to hold daily rallies during next month's IMF and World Bank meetings despite Singapore's ban on demonstrations, the party chief said Wednesday.

Chee Soon Juan said his Singapore Democratic Party would aim to draw attention to the nation's poor and the government's tight controls.

Chee said the party had applied for a police permit but would hold the 'Empower Singaporeans' rally and march even if the application was denied.

"We're not very hopeful" of the permit being approved, Chee said. But we wanted to cover all our bases."

Under national law, permits are required for any outdoor gathering of more than four people, amounting to an effective ban on protests and demonstrations.

Singapore said last month that it would not allow outdoor demonstrations during the Sept. 11-20 International Monetary Fund-World Bank annual meetings but would set up an indoor venue for civil groups accredited by the World Bank. Police said they were prepared to arrest anyone who broke the law, be they Singaporeans or foreigners.

National television station Channel NewsAsia reported Tuesday evening that Singapore police were studying a World Bank suggestion to allow protests at alternate sites. The station quoted police as saying, however, that they could not waive the law against outdoor demonstrations.

Officials at the national police and the World Bank could not immediately be reached for comment.

Chee said the SDP demonstration, planned from Sept. 14-20 and including rallies at Parliament, the IMF meeting site and the presidential palace, would be peaceful but assertive.

"We are committed to what we are doing, to fighting for our country and our rights," he told The Associated Press. "It's important that ... We try to reclaim our democratic rights."

Chee, who is already fighting a defamation suit brought against him by Singapore's top leaders, was unconcerned about possible repercussions against him.

He said the SDP rally aimed to educate Singaporeans about their rights of free speech, association and peaceful assembly, as well as to highlight to the international community that Singapore has a large income disparity that is making the poor even poorer.

In a statement on Tuesday announcing the rally, Chee called it ironic that the World Bank meeting would be held in a country "whose authoritarian government does nothing to stop the poor from getting poorer".

The statement said Singapore's income gap is at a record high and lamented the plight of the homeless and the number of people who have been imprisoned because they cannot afford to pay their bills, while the ruling party officials continued to draw high salaries.

"Despite all these problems in Singapore, we have no voice," Chee said. "If the authorities let us go on with our rally, it will be a historic moment," he said.

Chee is currently fighting a defamation suit filed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The Lees filed the suit following Chee's refusal to apologize after alleging in an SDP newsletter that the ruling People's Action Party was linked to a scandal at the nation's largest charity.

Chee is barred from campaigning or standing in elections after being bankrupted in February for failing to pay 500,000 Singapore dollars (US$316,685; euro248,015) in libel damages in a different case to Lee Kuan Yew and former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.

He was jailed for eight days in March for contempt of court after criticizing the independence of the city-state's judges.

Ruling party leaders have successfully sued several journalists and opposition politicians, including Chee, for defamation over the years. They say they sue to protect their reputations.

But domestic and international critics, including the U.S. State Department and London-based human rights group Amnesty International, have accused Singapore's rulers of using defamation lawsuits to stifle opponents.

Singapore's authorities tightly restrict media and political speech, saying such controls have helped turn the city-state into one of Asia's economic powerhouses.