Singapore - An American lawyer is scheduled to go on trial for two weeks in September for insulting two of Singapore's High Court justices on the internet. Gopalan Nair, who used to be a Singapore citizen and opposition party member, plans to apply to the court to let him return to the United States in the interim, lawyer Chia Ti Lik told The Straits Times.
Magistrate Denise Wong set September 8 for the start of the trial.
Gopalan, 58, was charged with accusing High Court Justice Belinda Ang of "prostituting herself" to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after observing a three-day hearing. The accusations were posted on his web log.
The June hearing was held to assess damages in a defamation suit that the two Lees won against the Singapore Democratic Party, its secretary-general Chee Soon Juan and his sister Chee Siok Chin.
The decision on damages has not been revealed, but Chee, Singapore's most vocal opposition leader, was sentenced to 12 days in jail for contempt of court, the stiffest sentence ever for the offence in the city-state. His sister was jailed for 10 days.
Both were previously made bankrupt from other court rulings.
The second charge related to an e-mail Nair sent to Justice Lai Siu Chiu in 2006 while she was presiding over a contempt of court case involving Chee Soon Juan.
Nair called her and other Singapore judges corrupt.
The former Workers' Party member who contested elections in 1988 and 1991 faces two charges of insulting a public servant, each carrying a possible jail term of up to one year, a maximum fine of 5,000 Singapore dollars (3,730 US dollars), or both.
He was arrested last Friday for disorderly behaviour in public and using abusive language against police officers.
