SINGAPORE: In a social media post early on Tuesday afternoon (Oct 22), Lee Hsien Yang, the son of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and brother of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, wrote:
“I am a political refugee from Singapore under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.”
The younger Mr Lee was granted asylum in the United Kingdom in August, according to the British daily newspaper The Guardian. He has not been in Singapore since he left on June 15, 2022.
He added in his post on Facebook he had not been able to attend the funeral of their sister, Lee Wei Ling, who passed away on Oct 9 at the age of 69 following a long illness, because of the risk of “abuse of the organs of the Singapore state against us and against my family.”
Read related: Lee Hsien Yang confirms he will not be returning to Singapore for Lee Wei Ling’s funeral
Mr Lee also wrote that, in 2022, he had sought asylum protection.
“The Singapore government’s attacks against me are in the public record. They prosecuted my son, brought disciplinary proceedings against my wife, and launched a bogus police investigation that has dragged on for years.
On the basis of these facts, the UK has determined that I face a well-founded risk of persecution and cannot safely return to Singapore.”
Nevertheless, he ended his post by saying he remains a citizen of Singapore and hopes it will be safe for him to come home one day.
The Guardian published an exclusive interview with Mr Lee on Tuesday afternoon.
It quotes Mr Lee as saying the actions taken against him, his wife, and their son “escalated to the point where I believe for my own personal safety I should not continue to live in Singapore”.
A spokesperson from the government spoke to The Guardian, saying Mr Lee and his family “are and have always been free to return to Singapore.”
“The legal findings [against Lee Hsien Yang] are amply supported by well-documented and public findings of an independent judiciary,” the spokesperson said, deeming the allegations that his family are victims of “baseless” and “unfounded” persecution to be without basis.
“In Singapore, no one is above the law. Anyone, including the offspring of the founding prime minister … can be investigated and brought before the courts,” the spokesperson added. /TISG