Legalese for 200, Alex. What is Contempt of Court?

The AGC (Attorney-General's Chambers) defended Singapore's contempt of court laws used in the context of the blogger Alex Au's posts on the Dr Woffles Wu case. The AGC said that "accusations of bias diminish (the administration of justice) in the eyes of the citizen, lower it, and ultimately damage the nation".

This was the stated objective when it took action against Alex Au. Now, there are two ways in which the AGC could have taken to protect public confidence in the administration of justice. One, by using the contempt of court laws (however justified it may be) as it did OR it could have chosen to provide evidence to the contrary of Alex Au's misleading allegations.

Which would have been more effective in protecting the reputation of the courts? Obviously FACTS that support the court's decisions, after all what is the judicial system but one where judgement is based on the weighing of evidence? It boggles the mind that the (one assumes) brightest lights in matters of law in the country residing in the AGC could not see this and instead chose to suppress the allegations with the law instead of with evidence.

Facts like: What penalties have been given to others with similar offences in cases prior to Woffles Wu's? This alone would be sufficient to squash any allegations of bias. In the public's eye, I think it is safe to say that the subsequent abettment of his employee to take the rap for him constitutes the bigger offence than the speeding offence itself. And Woffles did it TWICE!

As it is, the public is still in the dark as to why Woffles Wu's case took six years to be heard in court. After all, justice delayed is justice denied is it not? And in this case, it meant that a potential danger to public safety (a speedster) was allowed loose on our roads for that period of time. Did he even get any demerit points on top of the fine?

Not discussed is the fact that Woffles Wu's case has set a legal precedent. From now on, anyone else who is caught for speeding and then abetting someone else to take the rap can expect to be fined not more than $1000. And they can do it twice! Any deviation in penalties would immediately exonerate Alex Au and leave the AGC's reputation in tatters. I think the public has been screwed.