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SINGAPORE: Two men were charged in court on Saturday (Aug 8) for allegedly conspiring to make arrangements for lawyer Lim Tean to illegally depart Singapore for Malaysia.<\/p>\n
The two Singaporeans, 37-year-old Sulaiman Muhammad Firdaus and 44-year-old Mohammad Adam Abd Karim, were charged with one count each of engaging in a conspiracy to commit an act that has a tendency to defeat the course of justice, knowing that the act is likely to defeat the course of justice.<\/p>\n
The offence is punishable by up to seven years in prison, a fine, or both.<\/p>\n
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) said that the authorities take a firm stance against those who help others evade justice.<\/p>\n
“Such offenders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent under the law,” SPF said in a news release.<\/p>\n
Lim was supposed to have surrendered at the State Courts of Singapore on Monday to serve a jail term of three months and one week for practising law without a valid certificate.<\/p>\n
However, the 61-year-old did not show up, and his lawyer and bailor could not contact him.<\/p>\n
Authorities in Singapore subsequently issued an arrest warrant for Lim, and he was arrested by the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) in Johor Bahru on Thursday.<\/p>\n
SPF is working closely with RMP to secure his return to Singapore.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson from the Singapore courts earlier told CNA that Lim had originally been directed to surrender at 12pm on Jul 20 to begin his jail term.<\/span><\/p>\n However, on Jul 17, the Court of Appeal approved a request from Lim to defer his sentence and ordered him to surrender at 12pm on Aug 3 instead.<\/span><\/p>\n Lim was <\/span>convicted in July 2024<\/span> by Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun after a trial.<\/span><\/p>\n His <\/span>original sentence<\/span> was six weeks’ jail and a S$1,000 (US$780) fine, but that was increased to three months and one week after a judge agreed with the prosecution that it was “manifestly inadequate”.<\/span><\/p>\n Lim was <\/span>declared bankrupt<\/span> in April. In the same month, he was also <\/span>fined S$30,000<\/span> over his conduct in handling a former client’s money.<\/span><\/p>\n Lim is the founder of Peoples Voice and secretary-general of the People’s Alliance for Reform, an alliance of opposition parties.<\/span><\/p>\n