Li Shengwu to pay S$15,000 fine for contempt of court but does not admit guilt
Li Shengwu, nephew of Singapore's prime minister, who faces contempt of court proceedings in his homeland as he studies economics at Harvard University, is seen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. on August 12, 2017. REUTERS/Tim McLaughlin/Files
SINGAPORE: Mr Li Shengwu has announced that he will pay a S$15,000 fine for contempt of court, but said he does "not admit guilt" in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Aug 11).
The grandson of Lee Kuan Yew and son of Lee Hsien Yang wrote a day before the deadline to make payment that he had decided to pay the fine "in order to buy some peace and quiet".
"Paying the fine avoids giving the Singapore Government an easy excuse to attack me and my family," he wrote.
However, he added: "I do not admit guilt. I have never denied writing what I wrote, to my friends in a private Facebook post."
READ: Li Shengwu found guilty of contempt of court, fined S$15,000 or a week's jail if he does not pay
Mr Li, an assistant professor of economics at Harvard University living in the United States, was found guilty of contempt of court last month.
He was ordered to pay the fine of S$15,000 within two weeks, or serve a week's jail in default.
He was also ordered to pay about S$16,000 for costs and disbursements.
He was found guilty over a private Facebook post he made in 2017, where he shared a link to a New York Times editorial titled Censored In Singapore, with a description saying: "Keep in mind, of course, that the Singapore government is very litigious and has a pliant court system."
Justice Kannan Ramesh said the post "impugns the impartiality of the judiciary", noting that the term "pliant" is defined in the dictionary as "easily bent or inclined to any particular cause".
