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©The
Straits Times, Singapore (Used by permission)
by Elena Chong, Court Correspondent
A FORMER Singaporean lawyer Gopalan Nair was fined $3,000 yesterday for
disorderly behaviour and using abusive words on police officers.
District Judge James Leong found him guilty of hurling expletives at police
officers in the course of their duties on July 4.
He had been stopped by the police while trying to hail a taxi at the junction of
Bukit Timah Road and Race Course Road.
He was also convicted of behaving in a disorderly manner by gesticulating with
his hands and shouting that evening.
Nair, 58, who is now an American citizen practising as a lawyer in California,
is appealing.
It is not his first brush with the law. In 1991, he was fined $8,000 for
contempt of court for remarks he made questioning the independence of the
Subordinate Courts.
That year, he had stood for the general election in Bukit Merah under the
Workers' Party ticket and lost.
Nair is not out of the woods yet as he faces trial in the High Court on Monday
for allegedly insulting two Supreme Court judges in previous separate incidents.
Yesterday, the prosecution asked the court to impose a jail sentence on Nair for
abusing the officers.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Peter Koy cited three aggravating factors - the racial
nature of the words he used, Nair's lack of remorse and his conduct in court.
'In our multiracial society, such verbal abuse is serious. Offences which
potentially disturb this racial harmony need to be appropriately dealt with,''
he said.
But Judge Leong decided not to jail Nair, saying a fine was the norm in such
cases unless there were strong or exceptional factors. He felt that Nair's
offences did not warrant a custodial sentence.
Nair, who represented himself at the 18-day trial, said the entire episode was a
political exercise intended to intimidate Singaporeans into not criticising the
Singapore Government.
He said he did not accept the court's guilty verdict as he had not committed any
offence. It was a minor incident, he said.
'Arguments, even though heated, happen every day between people and the police,
not only in Singapore but throughout the world,' he added.
He is out on $8,000 bail pending the appeal. He could have been fined up to
$5,000 or jailed for up to one year for using abusive words on public servants.
The disorderly behaviour charge carries a maximum fine of $1,000 or one month in
jail.
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