One of only three opposition MPs in Singapore, Jeyaretnam was expelled from parliament after losing an appeal Monday against a bankruptcy order.

On July 25, the court reserved a judgment to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against him by Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding father.

"I'm breathless with anticipation to see what the Court of Appeal says," Canadian lawyer Howard Rubin, who was also representing Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada, told AFP.

"This is a pretty serious issue," said Rubin, who will draft reports to Amnesty International and Lawyers Rights Watch Canada.

Amnesty International has often voiced concern at the government's use of civil defamation suits to silence opponents.

In a 2000 report, the rights organisation "expressed concern at the high level of damages which appeared to be designed to bankrupt J.B. Jeyaretnam, thereby disqualifying him from parliament and curtailing his participation in public life."

The suit by Lee Kuan Yew is one of 11 filed against Jeyaretnam by leaders of the ruling People's Action Party who accuse him of defamation by innuendo by announcing during an election rally that another opposition candidate, Tang Liang Hong, had filed police reports against them.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong was awarded S$100,000 in an initial case in 1997.

Jeyaretnam argued in court that the Lee suit be dismissed because of a three-year delay in coming to trial.

He said he had been prejudiced by the wait as his counsel, an eminent British lawyer George Carman, had since died.

Jeyaretnam in 1981 became the first opposition MP elected to the Singapore parliament since independence in 1965.

During his political career he championed issues such as the abolition of the Internal Security Act, which allows detention without trial, and the promotion of human rights and democracy, leading to fiery verbal battles with Lee.

Jeyaretnam was declared bankrupt, which meant automatic expulsion from parliament, after falling behind with payments on another defamation suit for which he owes S$550,000 in damages and costs.