Charles Yeo seeks Political Asylum in the UK

Charles Yeo, the former chairman of the Reform Party and lawyer, announced on Instagram on 30 July 2022 that he was currently seeking political asylum in the United Kingdom on the grounds of political persecution. The 31-year-old stated that his move was guided by a desire to vindicate his name through the UK legal system.

Charles was recently slapped with a number of criminal charges. Amongst other things, Charles was accused of harassing a police officer and wounding the religious feelings of Christians who view homosexuality as contrary to their religious beliefs. Charles alleges that the charges against him were politically motivated.

This allegation of political persecution was denied by the police in January 2022. According to CNA, the police categorically rejected Charles’ allegations that the investigations are politically motivated.

“Neither are the allegations ‘trumped up’ for political reasons. The police had received at least four police reports involving four different clients of Whitefield Law Corporation, alleging forgery and/or CBT.”

Law Society Complaints, Personal Costs Orders, and Contempt of Court Proceedings

Charles also faced a number of Law Society complaints. On Instagram, Charles alleged that some of these complaints were instigated by a fellow lawyer, Joseph Chen. It is unclear what the subject matter of these complaints are.

Separately, earlier this week, Singapore’s Apex Court ordered Charles to pay costs personally costs order against him for his conduct in a case where he represented 2 death row inmates, Roslan bin Bakar and Pausi Bin Jeffridin, in an eleventh hour application. Charles, who acted for the 2 men on a pro-bono basis, was in tears after his last-ditch applications were dismissed by the Court.

In ordering Charles to pay the Attorney-General and the Public Prosecutor $4,000 in costs personally, the Court Appeal noted that:

As a qualified lawyer of four years’ standing, he should have known that it was his duty to determine whether there was any proper case to put forward to the court – he could not just act willy-nilly on the basis of his clients’ instructions or desires. We do take into account his sincere passion to assist his clients and his youthful enthusiasm in deciding on the appropriate quantum of costs to be ordered against him. We would warn, however, that a lawyer’s passion for a cause is insufficient – before any application is filed a lawyer must use the full force of his legal knowledge and acumen to determine whether the case has any legal merit at all or whether the circumstances are such that the application would be improper or an abuse of purpose.

In addition to the criminal charges, law society complaints and personal costs orders, Charles was also embroiled in contempt of Court proceedings. According to documents posted on Charles’ Instagram stories in May 2022, these proceedings were initiated on 28 March 2022 and they stem from 2 Instagram stories Charles posted on 14 March 2022 which, again, referenced fellow lawyer Joseph Chen.

It is unclear, from Charles’ posts, which stage the law society complaints and the Contempt of Court proceedings are at.

Criminal Proceedings Against Charles

At the material time of his abscondment, Charles was out on bail for a total of 6 charges. He was also being investigated for alleged criminal breach of trust.

Charles faced charged with three counts of making abusive, threatening or insulting communication towards a public servant under the Protection from Harassment Act. He also faced 3 charges for attempting to wound religious feelings.

According to TODAY, Charles’ lawyer, Ashwin Ganapathy of IRB Law, indicated to Court that Charles intended to contest the charges against him.

Apologised to his lawyers and opposing counsel

Through a 30-paragraph-long note, and a series of Instagram stories, Charles explained the reasons behind his asylum application.

He also apologised to his lawyers, Ashwin and Azri Imran Tan.

Charles “deeply apologised” to opposing counsel and Prosecutors on his cases. He thanked Mr Adrian, Mr K Gopalan and Ms Rejini for helping him to obtain an interim practicing certificate for the last 5 months. Charles wrote that he was “under huge mental stress to the point of cracking” and did not feel in the right state of mind to practice law.

Charles stated that his girlfriend, his close friends, and his lawyers were all unaware of his decision to seek political asylum in the UK. He explained that he had chosen to go to UK instead of other countries as the UK had a “internationally respected legal system”.

The lawyer claimed that the foremost consideration on his mind is to obtain “a clear vindication of [his] name”. If Charles’ asylum application is rejected, it is likely that he will be deported back to Singapore. If he sets foot in Singapore again, he may also face fresh charges arising from his abscondment.

Throughout his stories, Charles maintained his innocence and stressed that he “did not embezzle a single cent“. He also considered the possibility that he may be convicted in absentia and added that he “will not be putting forward any response in the interim” to the proceedings against him.

Another common thread in Charles’ story is his deliberate choice of UK as a forum for him to supposedly vindicate his name. This was what distinguished UK from other, in Charles’ own words, “backwater far renoved and lawless crime haven countries“.

In closing, Charles shared that this decision was one that was “very painful and difficult for him to make“.

This decision, Charles continued, forces him to “leave everything behind“.

Since you have made it to the end of the article, follow Wake Up Singapore on Telegram!