Li Shengwu says he will no longer participate in contempt proceedings against him

SINGAPORE — After nearly three years of legal battle over a Facebook comment he made that allegedly scandalised the judiciary, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s nephew, Mr Li Shengwu, announced on Wednesday (Jan 22) that he would no longer take part in the court proceedings — a move that lawyers say could work against him.

Penning his thoughts in a public post on his social media page, he said: "I have decided that I will not continue to participate in the proceedings against me."

Mr Li, who lives in the United States, added in the Facebook post that he "will not dignify" the Attorney-General's Chambers' (AGC) conduct during the pre-trial proceedings with his participation.

Stating that the prosecution has continued for years and that the AGC has submitted “thousands of pages of legal documents over one paragraph on social media”, Mr Li said his decision to refrain from future participation was due to AGC’s recent actions in court.

“Recently, the AGC applied to strike out parts of my own defence affidavit, with the result that they will not be considered at the trial. Moreover, they demanded that these parts be sealed in the court record, so that the public cannot know what the removed parts contain,” he said.

He did not elaborate on which parts of his affidavit had been struck out.

Mr Li, who is a Harvard University assistant economics professor, also said that at one point, the AGC had also argued that a new piece of legislation should be retroactively applied against him, which an appellate court had found to be unfair.

He said: “I will continue to be active on Facebook, and will continue to regard my friends-only Facebook posts as private. However, I have removed my cousin Li Hongyi (PM Lee's son) from my Facebook friends list.”

Speaking to TODAY, lawyers said that if Mr Li declines to participate in the proceedings, it means he could be waiving his right to defend himself at a future trial.

Asked about the implications, Mr Terence Seah, a partner at Virtus Law, said: “He will risk an adverse judgement if he does not appear to defend himself.”

While the Criminal Procedure Code states that evidence during a trial must be taken in the presence of the accused or in the presence of his advocate, legal provisions do allow for a trial in absentia — the trial will go on without the accused attending court.

Criminal lawyer Amolat Singh pointed to the Francis Seow case, the former Solicitor-General and opposition politician who had left for the United States while awaiting a tax evasion trial. He was convicted in absentia in 1991 and lived in exile until his death in 2016.

Said Mr Singh of proceedings held in absentia: “It is (equivalent) to a normal criminal trial where the accused remains silent throughout, and does not offer any more evidence in his defence, or answer during cross examination… It may almost be like throwing in the towel.”

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Lawyer Luke Lee, who works in his eponymous law practice, added: “It does appear that he wants to hinder the smooth administration of justice... If he does not want to participate, essentially, it will be at his own risk. The trial will go on.”

Mr Li had hired top British lawyer David Pannick to advise him on his contempt of court case, though his legal representatives may not be able to defend Mr Li if they are unable to receive instructions from their client.

The contempt of court case is over a Facebook post Mr Li made on July 15, 2017, in which he wrote that the Singapore Government was “very litigious” and has a “pliant court system”.

He was commenting on the dispute between his father, Mr Lee Hsien Yang, and aunt Dr Lee Wei Ling and his uncle, PM Lee, over the fate of the home of his grandfather, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, at 38 Oxley Road.

TODAY has sought comment from the AGC.