Singaporeans for Democracy said in a statement that they believe Pacific Internet spied on the Internet account of Robert Ho, who was arrested for posting articles online.

Pacific Internet (PCNTF) officials weren't available to comment on Sunday. Technical support staff didn't know how to reach company spokesmen or senior executives who could comment.

Ho, 51, was arrested after posting an Internet article that allegedly attempted to incite violence during the Nov. 3 general election.

Singaporeans for Democracy spokesman Jacob Low said Sunday that Ho had anonymously posted the article to its UK.-based Web site in mid-October. Ho used the pseudonym "lawless," Low said in a statement.

"How did the Singapore government and the police know where the article originated from," Low said. "We argue that Pacific Internet had already been spying on Mr. Ho's Internet account on behalf of the government."

The group noted that Pacific Internet is part owned by government-linked company, SembCorp, and raised questions about the Internet company's links to government officials and the family of the island's powerful founding father Lee Kuan Yew.

Ho Ching, the deputy chairman of SembCorp, is Lee's daughter-in-law. She is married to Lee's eldest son, Lee Hsien Loong, who is deputy prime minister, finance minister and head of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Ahead of this year's election, Singapore's parliament passed new controls on the use of the Internet for political campaigning.

Singapore, a wealthy Southeast Asian city-state, is often criticized for its tight controls on public speech, assembly and political activities.

Opposition politicians accuse the long-ruling People's Action Party of using strict media controls and public security laws to stifle dissent.

The party, which has dominated Singapore politics since the country's independence from neighboring Malaysia in 1965, won a landslide victory with more than 75 percent of the vote in the country's latest general election.

Leaders say their tight policies have kept Singapore an oasis of political stability in sometimes turbulent Southeast Asia, and have helped make Singapore one of the region's richest and safest countries.

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