SINGAPORE: Lawyer and opposition politician Charles Yeo Yao Hui on Saturday (Jul 30) announced upon Instagram that he has been seeking “political asylum” in the United Kingdom, after repeated claims in recent months that criminal charges towards him have been “politically motivated”.
The former Reform Party chairman, 31, has been on bail whenever he left Singapore last week, having acquired permission by the court to travel to Vietnam from Jul 27 in order to 30 for function.
But instead of returning to Singapore right after, he flew towards the UK.
Yeo’s lawyer, Mr Ashwin Ganapathy from IRB Law, mentioned his client never ever told him which he did not intend to return to Singapore. “We experienced no clue, inch Mr Ganapathy told CNA on Monday.
This individual added that he expects to discharge themselves as Yeo’s protection counsel.
Yeo was charged in The month of january over the number of social media posts that allegedly stressed a police officer and wounded the spiritual feelings of Christians.
He was also arrested that month over possible criminal breach of believe in and forgery offences , after police reports were stuck against the Whitefield Legislation Corporation where he worked well then.
In a series of Instagram Stories over the weekend, Yeo, who is prolific over the platform, claimed their legal troubles were the result of “attacks against a young political activist” and “politically motivated”.
“This is a very painful and hard decision for me to create, ” he stated of his decision to abscond. “I had left almost everything behind. ”
Yeo also wrote that he did not think he would get a fair trial in Singapore, and apologised in order to his lawyers Mister Ganapathy and Mister Azri Tan.
“I believe that when the court was unbiased, they would be able to vindicate me easily yet I don’t think however, best lawyer can perform anything in politically motivated cases, ” he said.
Yeo added that his girlfriend, good friends and lawyers were not aware of his choice to seek asylum. This individual also claimed that he “did not embezzle a single cent”.
Last week, the particular Court of Attractiveness ordered Yeo to pay S$4, 000 in individual costs to the Attorney-General regarding acting improperly in filing applications in order to challenge the passing away sentences of 2 drug traffickers within February.
A three-judge panel mentioned: “As a qualified lawyer of four years’ standing, he should have known that it was their duty to determine whether or not there was any appropriate case to put ahead to the court – he could not just react willy-nilly on the basis of their clients’ instructions or even desires. ”
Yeo was area of the Reform Party team that contested in Ang Mo Kio GRC in the 2020 General Election, against a five-member team led by Best Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
He stepped lower as chairman of the party following their arrest in The month of january.