On November 9, 2002, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) leader, Dr. Chee Soon Juan, was released from a prison after serving a five-week imprisonment. On May 1 (Labor Day), 2002, Dr. Chee Soon Juan and his colleague, Gandhi Ambalam, were arrested by the police for planning to organize a rally for workers' rights without a government license. SDP's application for a license was rejected by the Public Entertainment Licensing Unit citing "law and order problems." The two activists were arrested when Chee refused to leave the premises after the police threatened to arrest them. Critics have recently been accusing Singapore's ruling People's Action Party of using judicial proceedings and limitations on public speech to suppress political opposition.

On October 8, 2002, a Singaporean Court sentenced Chee and Ambalam to five- and four-week imprisonments respectively for violating the Public Entertainment and Meeting Act by organizing the Labor Day rally.

SDP is a major opposition political party in Singapore, which, together with the other opposition parties, holds only two of the 84 elected seats in Parliament. In addition to serving as a leader of the SDP, Chee is a founding member of the Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia (ARDA), which organized an Asia regional workshop at the Second Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in November 2000.

For more information about the case and actions that you can take, please see:

• Life in Prison - Open Letter from Dr. Chee Soon Juan
• Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia - Open Letter to the Felegates of the ASEAN Summit
• Asian Human Rights Commission's Urgent Appeal - November 1, 2002
   
• Asian Human Rights Commission's Urgent Appeal - October 24, 2002
   
• Statement by Dr. Chee Soon Juan and Mr. Ghandi Amabalam