Li Shengwu has confirmed that the Singapore Government is “still prosecuting” him “after all this time,” as he revealed that he filed his defence affidavit today (25 Sept).
Shengwu, who is the grandson of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and nephew of current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, wrote on social media: “Friends often ask me if the Singapore government is still prosecuting me after all this time. The answer is yes. I just filed my defence affidavit.
“Over the past two years, my legal team has taken advice from David Pannick, a leading expert. I’m grateful for Lord Pannick’s guidance and help, even as he has been in the midst of winning a landmark constitutional case in the UK.”
His post was shared by his father, Lee Hsien Yang, and aunt, Lee Wei Ling. Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling – the late Lee Kuan Yew’s younger children – are estranged from their elder brother, Lee Hsien Loong.
Shengwu captured the interest of many Singaporeans when he delivered a heartfelt eulogy at his grandfather’s wake in 2015.
In 2017, Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang accused PM Lee of using state organs against them. The younger siblings accused PM Lee of abusing his power to preserve their family home against their father’s willed desire to demolish the house, in order to bolster his grip on power, and of grooming his son Li Hongyi for politics.
PM Lee cleared himself of the charges his siblings levelled against him in Parliament and stated at the time that he will not sue his siblings as that would “besmirch” their parents’ names.
Despite a ceasefire that the younger siblings offered, the siblings’ relationship with PM Lee seems to have become even more fractured – especially after the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) initiated action against Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s wife and eldest son.
The AGC initiated legal action against Shengwu over a private “friends-only” Facebook post he wrote on 15 July 2017 and allegedly made repeated reference to their family feud in their letters.
The AGC has also lodged a complaint against Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s wife, Lee Suet Fern, accusing her of being involved in the preparation of her father-in-law’s last will while her husband was one of the beneficiaries.
Shengwu – who serves as an Assistant Professor in the world-renowned Harvard University’s Economics Department – has asserted that he has no intention to disrupt his “happy” and “fulfilling” life in the US by returning to Singapore to face the legal proceedings initiated by the AGC.
The relationship between Ho Ching and the younger Lee siblings appears to be as fractured as ever