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The Elite of Singapore Dinesh Bhatia
Spoiled Singapore brat and dilettante playboy, Dinesh Bhatia, 35, has been sentenced to one year of jail for consuming cocaine. Bhatia's lawyer, Member of Parliament K. Shanmugam (the shameless), had told the court that Bhatia was not an addict but was given the drug by a friend. Even though Bhatia did not know that it was cocaine, and had a 'fleeting suspicion' the substance could be illegal, he took it on impulse. Yeah, sure! As a bonus for getting Dinesh off the hook (gallows), K Shanmugam (the shameless) is now Singapore's Minister of Law!!! Bhatia's father was a judge, and his mother a former Singapore Member of Parliament. Escape from Paradise was right -- Singapore condones drugs for the elite, as Shanmugam, who aspires to become Solicitor-General (above), comes to Bhatia's defense! Then what happens?
THE STRAITS TIMES, April 7, 2005 - Bhatia, 35, appealed against his 12-month sentence last month, asking for a heavy fine to be imposed instead. Calling the previous sentence "excessive", Justice V K Rajah said yesterday that the district judge erred by not tailoring the sentence to fit the offender and failed to "attach adequate weight and merit to all the relevant mitigating factors". For example, the judge did not adequately consider the fact that Bhatia's consumption was neither planned nor purchased, said Justice Rajah. Bhatia's sentence was reduce to 8 months. Huh? And then what happens? THE STRAITS TIMES, July 7, 2005 - Dinesh Singh Bhatia, 35, who was sentenced to eight months in jail for cocaine consumption after his arrest in a high-society drug raid last October, is out of prison and is serving out his sentence at home, wearing an electronic tag he cannot remove. In the end, after appeal, Bhatia’s sentence was reduced to eight months, but less than three months after that, he was reported by the Straits Times to be at home, albeit wearing an electronic tag. Shanmugam (the shameless) is a board member of Singapore Technologies, along with Peter Seah, Chairman, former banker to CIA-connected S. P. Chung, one of the characters in Escape from Paradise. All in the family! Bathia's father, former judicial commissioner and Senior Counsel at Khattar Wong & Partners, Amarjeet Singh, was instrumental in the caning of American Michael Fay. Bhatia spoke out in support of the Michael Fay caning, saying "You know, once you loosen up or the laws become lax, everything comes in. The floodgates are opened. It doesn't pay to mess around with the system." Well, Bhatia, too bad you didn't get a dose of your own medicine! Senior Counsel K Shanmugam of Allen and Gledhill
Former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's lawyer, Senior Counsel K Shanmugam, Singapore's Minister for Law & Second Minister for Home Affairs, defended coke head Bhatia. What a conflict of interest! Is Singapore's Ministry of Law condoning drugs for the elite? Government chemists will extract impurities from the drugs such as chemicals added to cocaine before it sells on the street, possibly reducing the weight to below the limit that warrants a death penalty in cases of trafficking, the lawyers said. Yes, and especially if the accused is one of Singapore's elite.
Mr Shadrake is being investigated for alleged offences of criminal defamation. The veteran freelance journalist has also been served with an order by the Attorney-General to attend court for contempt of court, based on the contents of the book. A spokesman for the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said there were statements in the book which the AGC believes "impugn the impartiality, integrity and independence of the Singapore judiciary." Mr Shadrake, who divides his time between Britain and Malaysia, was in Singapore on July 17 for a private book launch at the Post Museum in Little India. He was arrested by the police at his hotel at 8.20am the next day. He may well be sentenced to jail - as we might have been when our book, Escape from Paradise Shadrake was released on S$10,000 ($7,000) bail in Singapore July 23rd after his arrest on suspicion of criminal defamation. The police are holding his passport, so he cannot leave the country. Shadrake told reporters outside the police complex after he was freed: "I've been awake almost the entire time since they dragged me out of bed at 6am Sunday morning. I've had a few hours sleep on a very hard floor. I've been sitting at a desk being interrogated all day long explaining all the chapters of the book: going into the history of the book, my research, why I did the book." Singapore's unusual criminal defamation law carries a sentence of up to two years in jail, a fine, or both. Even though Singapore's Media Authority said it had not banned the sale of the book in Singapore, the book is not on sale in Singapore. Singaporeans know when they must behave. U.S. Senate moves against Singapore to protect Escape from Paradise In response to Shadrake's case, and Helen Yeo's threats over Escape from Paradise, on July 19th, the US Senate passed a bill to shield US journalists, authors, and publishers from "libel tourists" who file suit in countries where they expect to get the most favorable ruling. The Senate approved the measure in a "unanimous consent" voice vote. The popular legislation headed to the House of Representatives, which was expected to approve it and send the measure to US President Barack Obama to sign into law. Backers of the bill have cited Singapore as the major country where weak libel safeguards attract lawsuits that unfairly harm US journalists, writers and publishers. The measure would prevent US federal courts from recognizing or enforcing a foreign judgment for defamation that is inconsistent with the first amendment of the US Constitution and would bar foreign parties in such cases from targeting the US assets of an American author, journalist, or publisher as part of any damages.
The defendant, who is not entitled to a public trial, faces a lone judge, a government appointee, who hands down his sentence quickly. The system is very efficient, no waiting around for an appeal, no hanging out on death row for years. Singapore does everything with excellence, and the pre-dawn Friday morning hangings are no exception. Mercifully, our high tech gallows use the “long drop,” so, the prisoner, hooded, and with arms and legs bound, dies instantly, in a snap. The gallows can accommodate up to seven people at a drop, a great convenience when you are hanging fifty or more people every year. Ironically, drugs are readily available in Singapore. A favorite place for “scoring” drugs is the Newton Circus Hawker Centre, a favorite late night haunt of open-air food stalls popular with young Singaporeans and foreigners, alike. More importantly, Singapore, boasting the world’s largest port for shipping tonnage, and the most Asia-Pacific air-links, is a major transit point for drugs. The bulk business of drug distribution is not done by small-time couriers, but by the big boys, who never touch the drugs, and are never touched by them."
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The unOfficial Yeo Cheow Tong Website
They should have hanged the bum, but Dinesh Bhatia gets one year jail term!
Lawyer for the mob - How many youngsters will take drugs thanks to this bum?
Recently, the British author, Alan Shadrake, 75, has been arrested in Singapore because of his book exposing Singapore's death penalty, Once A Jolly Hangman - Singapore Justice In The Dock. 
"In Singapore, a mere 15 grams of heroin, 500 grams of cannabis, 30 grams of cocaine, or 250 grams of methamphetamine will get you the hangman’s noose. There are no jury trials in Singapore, as juries had been abolished by Lee Kuan Yew. 