Li Shengwu was absent from the courtroom on July 2 as the contempt of court hearing against him proceeded.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) argued that Li was guilty of scandalising the judiciary and ought to be fined S$15,000 over his Facebook post put up in 2017.

The AGC called for this fine, with two weeks' jail in lieu if he does not pay the fine.

The hearing was presided over by Justice Kannan Ramesh, and Li failed to appear for cross-examination as per the court order.

Li, 35, is the eldest son of Lee Hsien Yang.

This makes Li the nephew of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the grandson of the late Lee Kuan Yew.

The AGC said Li, an assistant professor of economics at Harvard, was guilty of scandalising the judiciary.

Justice Ramesh reserved judgement at the end of the hearing.

He will give the verdict at a later date.

The AGC argued the fine it sought took into account the “nature and gravity of Mr Li’s contemptuous allegation, the widespread republication of his statement, and his clear lack of remorse and reprehensible conduct in these proceedings”.

A substantial fine was necessary to deter Li and others from “making similar baseless allegations impugning the independence of the Singapore judiciary”, it added.

Li had no lawyer present for the proceedings.

On Jan. 22, 2020, Li posted on his Facebook page that he would no longer participate in contempt of court proceedings against him.

He discharged his lawyer Abraham Vergis and said he would not “dignify the AGC's conduct by my participation”.

What AGC said

Low Siew Ling, the AGC's representative, said Li's post was made privately to friends only, but there is no guarantee a post for friends will only be seen by those friends.

She also said Li had suggested that the post was seen by very few people, but he refused to produce his Facebook friends list, which could have included members of the media.

"The claim that the post was seen by very few people must be a lie," she added.

Li's claim not to be a public figure, she argued, is "convenient when he wants to defend a contempt charge".

She said he has conducted himself in a manner that suggests he is in a position to know certain information "by virtue of his relationship" to the Lee family.

Low cited an example of another Facebook post by Li, where he wrote: "Because the Singapore news is heavily controlled by the Government. I am in a position to know."

This reply was in response to a Facebook user who asked him "why is this not in the news", Low said.

Low said he has used his position as Lee Kuan Yew's grandson to give media interviews to international media, but he demolishes his grandfather's values "in the same breath".

Background

The hearing was over a private Facebook post in 2017, with a link to a New York Times editorial, "Censored In Singapore".

The description in Li's post read: “Keep in mind, of course, that the Singapore government is very litigious and has a pliant court system”.

This statement "clearly impugns" the impartiality of Singapore's courts and judiciary, said AGC representative Low.