S'pore opposition leader sentenced to day in jail, fined

SINGAPORE, Mar 17: A Singapore court today sentenced an opposition leader to one day in jail and fined him 6,000 Singapore dollars for questioning the independence of the judiciary.

Failure to pay the fine by 5 pm today would result in a one-week prison sentence, the High Court said.

Chee Soon Juan, secretary-general of the tiny Singapore Democratic Party, had criticised the Singapore judiciary during a February court hearing in which he was declared bankrupt following a defamation suit brought by government ministers.

Chee said after sentencing that he would not pay the fine.

REUTERS