Lawyer Lim Tean arrested in Malaysia and returned to Singapore to serve jail term
2 sources · Singapore · 2 of them are linked to a state
Who reported this
- CNA
- The Straits Times
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
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Every source for this story reports from Singapore.
Lawyer Lim Tean was handed over to Singapore authorities on August 11 after being arrested by the Royal Malaysia Police in Johor Bahru on August 6. Lim, the 61 year old founder of Peoples Voice and secretary general of the People's Alliance for Reform, had failed to surrender to the State Courts on August 3 to begin serving a jail term. An arrest warrant was issued against him on the day he was supposed to surrender, as he had left Singapore illegally while on court bail.
Lim was convicted in July 2024 for practising law without a valid certificate on 32 occasions in 2021. While a district court initially sentenced him in February 2025 to six weeks in jail and a 1,000 Singapore dollar fine, the High Court later increased the sentence to three months and one week. The court increase followed a prosecution appeal that argued the original sentence was manifestly inadequate.
Two Singaporean men, Mohammad Adam Abd Karim and Sulaiman Muhammad Firdaus, have been charged with conspiracy to defeat the course of justice for allegedly helping Lim leave the country on August 4. Police stated that investigations into the circumstances of his illegal departure are ongoing.
In addition to his criminal conviction, Lim was fined 30,000 Singapore dollars in April for his conduct in handling a client's money. The court cited his status as a senior practitioner and a cavalier attitude toward professional obligations when imposing the fine. Lim was also declared bankrupt in April. In the 2025 General Election, Lim contested the Potong Pasir SMC seat and finished third.
How each side framed it
- Centre
- The center outlet focused on the police's resolve to bring criminals to justice regardless of where they flee.
- Centre-right
- The center-right outlet provided more detailed context regarding the legal requirements for practising certificates and the specific nature of the disciplinary charges.
Sources
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