ICJ 'pursuing agenda against S'pore govt'

THE government has charged that the International Commission of Jurists is pursuing a determined agenda against the Singapore government at all costs.

In a reply to ICJ secretary-general Adama Dieng, Law Ministry deputy secretary Lau Wah Ming questioned why ICJ observer Stuart Littlemore and the ICJ had resorted to making false accusations against People's Action Party leaders and the Singapore government based on rumours.

Mr Lau said: "Your letter argues that although Mr Littlemore made false accusations against the plaintiffs and the Singapore government, he was entitled to do so because he had attributed these accusations to rumours and unidentified sources and had also reported opinions to the contrary.

"This is pathetic. If Mr Littlemore and the ICJ did not subscribe to the false accusations, why repeat them in the report unless it was intended to create a false impression?"

Mr Littlemore was the ICJ representative who observed the defamation suit brought by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong against opposition politician J.B. Jeyaretnam.

In replying to an Oct 21 letter from the ICJ, the ministry's Mr Lau, in a letter dated Oct 24, noted that the ICJ now denied accusing Singapore leaders of using libel actions to stifle free speech and remove political opponents, and said this was because "the ICJ knows that any such charge is baseless".

Also, the ICJ now said that Mr Littlemore had assumed that a teapot of what was actually water served to Mr Goh contained tea.

"It has finally admitted that Mr Littlemore did not know the facts. But ignorance does not explain why Mr Littlemore failed to verify the facts, and why he falsely reported that Mr Goh was served milk and sugar. Dishonesty and readiness to damage Mr Goh and his government, do."

Mr Lau added that the ICJ's hypocrisy was "breathtaking" because it claimed to champion the freedom of opinion and expression, yet "has not criticised its 'objective' observer, Mr Littlemore, for using defamation proceedings, and the threat of such proceedings, to silence his critics".

He concluded: "The ICJ's dishonesty and hypocrisy prove that it is determined to pursue an agenda against the Singapore government regardless of the facts, and to the detriment of the cause of human rights and the rule of law which the ICJ professes to champion."