| Associated
Press December 5, 2006 SINGAPORE By GILLIAN WONG THE leader of a Singapore opposition party jailed for publicly speaking without a permit has been hospitalized because of abdominal pain and low blood pressure, his sister said Tuesday, Dec 5. Chee Soon Juan - secretary general of the Singapore Democratic Party - was jailed for five weeks on Nov 23 after he refused to pay a S$5000 (US$3200; €2500) fine. Singapore law requires a permit for any outdoor public event, including speeches. Chee was admitted to Changi General Hospital on Sunday, said Chee Siok Chin, his sister. A prison doctor also found traces of blood in the opposition leader's urine, she said. "They are running tests on him in hospital because we don't know why there are traces of blood," the sister said. Chee had refused to consume prison food for days because it made him nauseous, she said. The government confirmed in a statement Tuesday that Chee had been hospitalized to undergo tests. "Prison authorities have examined the food provided and found no reason to believe it is the cause of Chee's nausea," the Home Affairs Ministry said. "If Chee persists in not eating when he can, and refusing medical treatment based on the professional opinion of the medical doctors, he would be causing harm to himself. This situation cannot be condoned." Chee was bankrupted in February after failing to pay former Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong about S$500,000 (US$303,000; €232,000) in libel damages for comments he made during elections in 2001. |
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