BANNED IN SINGAPORE - GOS HITS FAR EASTERN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SINGAPORE 003136

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SN
SUBJECT: BANNED IN SINGAPORE - GOS HITS FAR EASTERN
ECONOMIC REVIEW

REF: SINGAPORE 1912

Classified By: EP Counselor Ike Reed. Reasons 1.4 (b)(d)


1. (U) On September 28, the GOS announced it had banned the
Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) in Singapore. The
Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA)
said FEER had failed to meet the requirements of the
Newspaper and Printing Presses Act to appoint a local legal
representative and to submit a SD 200,000 (USD 126,500)
security deposit. According to a MICA press release, it is
now an offense "for any person to sell or distribute, or
import or possess for sale or distribution, the FEER in
Singapore." Access to the FEER website has not been blocked,
however.

Chee, Chee, Chee
--------------


2. (U) The GOS ban on FEER comes at the same time that Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew are
suing FEER for defamation over an article in its July/August
edition on opposition politician Chee Soon Juan entitled
"Singapore's 'Martyr,' Chee Soon Juan." Legal action was
first initiated on July 13 when the two leaders demanded an
apology and damages from FEER for questioning whether the GOS
deserves its reputation for "squeaky-clean government." The
lawsuit was filed in court on August 22. PM Lee and MM Lee
have a separate defamation suit pending against Chee Soon
Juan stemming from his party's pre-election newsletter
(Reftel).

Legalists in Action
--------------


3. (C) MICA Press Secretary Krishnasamy Bhavani denied there
was any link between the ban on FEER and the defamation suit.
She told us on September 29 that FEER's operating license
simply had come up for renewal and it had not complied with
the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act. Other publications
-- including the Financial Times -- had. She added that
nobody had ever been prosecuted before for violating the Act.
Furthermore, FEER's website would not be affected since "we
cannot do anything about on-line because the Act does not
cover on-line media."


4. (C) Comment: The GOS action against FEER may well be
related to its coverage of Chee Soon Juan. Chee gets under
the skin of the senior Singapore leadership regularly. Chee
has been a constant critic of the GOS for more than a decade
and is undeterred by his many setbacks -- the loss of his
job, bankruptcy, and brief stints in jail. GOS leaders have
used a wide array of legal tools to deal harshly with anyone
who portrays Chee in a positive or sympathetic light. End
Comment.
HERBOLD