Chee Soon Juan is a Singaporean opposition activist and secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party. He is a vocal opponent of the ruling People’s Action Party, which has held power since 1959. Chee has been arrested and jailed more than a dozen times for his political activities, primarily for repeatedly challenging Singapore’s laws that require protest organizers to obtain a police permit before staging political demonstrations or making public speeches on political issues. He was sued for defamation on multiple occasions for opinions he expressed about members of the People’s Action Party. After refusing to pay monetary damages for these suits, Chee was declared bankrupt in 2006 and banned from traveling and standing in parliamentary elections. He was also banned from attending the 2012 Oslo Freedom Forum. As a result of international pressure, Chee’s bankruptcy was annulled, allowing him to travel and run for office in the 2016 general elections.
