Chee, leader of the Singapore Democratic Party, is an outspoken critic of the Singapore government's political controls and curbs on free speech, and has had several run-ins with the authorities.

The opposition politician was declared bankrupt in February 2006 after he failed to make libel payments of S$500,000 to former prime ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong.

When Chee, 44, tried to leave Singapore on April 1, 2006 for five days to attend the World Movement for Democracy conference in Turkey, immigration officers at Changi Airport told him he could not leave the country, Chee's lawyer Alfred Dodwell said.

"We are very disappointed with the decision," of the court, Dodwell said. "It's a case where he has clearly not taken any wilful steps in violation of law. It was an innocent mistake on his part to think that he could leave."

Under Singapore's laws, bankrupts who leave the city-state without permission from the government may be fined up to S$10,000 (US$6536) or jailed up to two years.

Dodwell said that Chee would appeal the decision. If he does not pay the fine, he could be jailed for three weeks.

Chee has served five jail terms since 1999 for speaking in public without a permit and for questioning the independence of Singapore's judiciary.

Most recently, he was jailed for over three weeks after he refused to pay a S$5000 fine for speaking in public without a permit in the run-up to Singapore's general elections last year.

Singapore bans public speeches unless the speaker is licensed by a government official.

Chee's party did not win any parliament seats in the May poll, but won 23 percent of the votes in the wards that it contested.
                                                      Home