Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) today condemned Singapore's government for a "breathtaking" number of disciplinary and contempt of court proceedings against prominent lawyer M Ravi, which it attributed to his years of work protecting the rights of drug mules serving life sentences in the city-state.
Ravi is now facing seven separate professional disciplinary inquiries, which may result in him being fined, suspended, or barred from practice as a lawyer, according to LFL chief coordinator Zaid Malek.
Additionally, he is the subject of three contempt of court cases and a number of police investigations.
"These proceedings include those filed against Ravi for his relentless defense of Malaysian mentally disabled Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, who was executed last week despite worldwide outrage," Zaid added.
"The amount of pending lawsuits brought by the government, the attorney general, and the courts is just staggering."
LFL has criticized the Singapore government for attempting to prevent or discourage rights attorneys from taking on public interest matters, saying that such measures would deprive inmates of their right to legal representation and undermine the rule of law.
It said at the time that Ravi and other human rights attorneys such as Violet Netto and Charles Yeo were being "punished" for their efforts in defending Nagaenthran and other mentally disabled death row inmates.
Zaid said today that the proceedings against Ravi posed a potential to "negatively affect his financial well-being, jeopardize his career as a lawyer, and expose him to the prospect of imprisonment."
"The right to freedom of speech and the right to legal representation, both of which are established in the Singapore constitution, are being trampled on by the state's effort to prevent Ravi from continuing to campaign for human rights causes," he said in a statement.
He also cited the recent incidents of Nagaenthran and fellow death row convict Datchinamurthy Kataiah, who were obliged to defend themselves in court after being unable to find a lawyer willing to represent them in the city-state.
"There is no doubt that this is due to the oppressive atmosphere created by Ravi and other attorneys such as Violet and Yeo for supporting Nagaenthran last year," he stated.
"The rule of law must be maintained, and this can be accomplished only if the right to legal representation is recognized and lawyers may do their duties without fear of consequences."
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