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PETALING JAYA: The Singapore Attorney General’s Office has demanded that a human rights lawyer apologize for accusing him of “malicious prosecution” for the way he had carried out a drug case against a Malaysian, who had been in the corridor of death.
Deputy AG Hri Kumar Nair, in a letter, said that lawyer M Ravi’s statement to the media after the Court of Appeal’s decision on the case of security guard Gobi Avedian was “highly defamatory”.
Yesterday the court, by allowing Gobi to be reviewed, convicted him of a lesser charge of attempting to import drugs. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, from the date of his arrest in 2014, and received 10 strokes of the cane.
Gobi was previously convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death.
“You made a serious accusation that the prosecutor acted in bad faith or maliciously in the prosecution of the plaintiff (Gobi). It is highly and totally contrary to your obligations as a court official for you to make these baseless, unfounded and misleading accusations.
“In these circumstances, we demand that you unconditionally apologize and retract all allegations in writing by Thursday,” said Hri Kumar.
If Ravi does not respond within two days, the Chambers of Singapore AG said they will file a complaint against him under the Legal Profession Act and the country’s Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules. The complaint will be addressed to the Law Society of Singapore, a body that governs the country’s legal profession.
The prosecution maintained that Ravi allegedly said they were “overzealous” in prosecuting Gobi and that it had “led to the death penalty for him.”
In response, Ravi said on Facebook that he would respond to “Hri Kumar’s threatening and humiliating letter accordingly,” and maintained that he has the right to make his professional opinions known as he is Gobi’s lawyer.
“I have taken an oath to fulfill my duties to my profession and to my clients to discharge my duties without fear or favor. If one day I am suspended or dismissed for this complaint from the attorney general, so be it, “he said.
Ravi also said that he would initiate proceedings against the Law Society if it did not do its part to protect lawyers and the independence of the profession by receiving further complaints or participating in any harassment by the Singapore Chambers AG.
