Charles Yeo, a 31-year-old opposition politician and Singaporean lawyer, is wanted by the Singapore police.
This occurred when he failed to return to Singapore from Vietnam on July 30 and instead traveled to the United Kingdom, thus violating court terms that authorized his foreign employment travel while on bail.
Police made public Yeo's wanted status.
The Singapore police confirmed Yeo's wanted status in a press statement on August 1, as reported by CNA and The Straits Times.
As a result of Yeo's absconding, the authorities have issued a warrant for his arrest and are collaborating with their overseas law enforcement colleagues to track him down.
Yeo, whose full name is Charles Yeo Yao Hui, had acquired court authorization to travel to Vietnam for employment.
However, he travelled to the United Kingdom instead of Singapore.
What occurred
The State Courts reportedly gave Yeo permission to go to Vietnam for employment between July 27 and July 30 on July 20.
The police indicate that Yeo reported to the investigation officer on July 26 in order to obtain his passport, give his trip schedule, and post more bond with his bailor prior to his departure on July 27.
Yeo was required by the terms of his application to leave Singapore to submit his passport to the investigating officer on August 1 at 6 p.m.
The previous chairman of the Reform Party did not return on July 30.
The police got a complaint from Yeo's bailor on July 31 stating that he had not returned to Singapore on July 30 and was unreachable.
The police said that "he did not report to the investigation officer on August 1" and made unsuccessful attempts to reach Yeo on that day.
The police issued an arrest warrant for Yeo because he had violated the requirements of the court's authorisation of his international trip.
What Yeo stated thus far
Even though the police and his bailor were unable to contact Yeo, he remained publicly available on Instagram, where he continuously posted information.
Saturday, July 30, Yeo revealed in a series of Instagram Stories that he was seeking "political asylum" in the United Kingdom. This was a bombshell revelation.
He stated, "This is a tough and difficult decision for me to make."
"I had left everything behind."
According to him, his fiancée, close friends, and attorneys were unaware of his plan to seek refuge.
Even further, he asserted that he would not receive a fair trial in Singapore and that his legal issues were "attacks against a young political activist" and "politically driven."
This revelation was made after he had repeatedly claimed in recent months that the criminal allegations against him were "politically driven."
Yeo expressed regret to his lawyers, Ashwin Ganapathy and Azadi Tan.
Regarding these, he remarked, "I feel that if the court was unbiased, they would easily be able to vindicate me, but I do not believe that even the finest attorney can help in politically driven matters."
Yeo also asserted that he "did not steal a single dime."
The police are aware of Yeo's social media posts, according to CNA.
Yeo is facing charges and is being investigated for more offenses.
Yeo was accused in January 2022 for allegedly harassing a police officer and offending Christians' religious sensibilities.
Allegedly, he committed these offenses as a result of several social media posts he made online.
Yeo is furthermore on police bail since he is under investigation for separate offenses of suspected criminal breach of trust by a lawyer and forgery.
Against Whitefield Law Corporation, where Yeo was a previous partner, complaints were filed.
Ganapathy from IRB Law, one of Yeo's attorneys, told CNA that his client never notified him about the intention to travel to the United Kingdom.
The attorney stated that he will withdraw as defense counsel.
Yeo resigned as party chairman following his imprisonment in January 2022.
In the 2020 General Election, he was a member of the Reform Party's five-person team in Ang Mo Kio GRC, competing against a team led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Yeo experimented with non-fungible tokens in March 2022 to pay his legal difficulties.
His frank, no-holds-barred narrowcasting of his opinions on social media has garnered both supporters and critics.
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