Lee Hsien Yang (proper) receives family and friends members paying their respects to the late Lee Kuan Yew throughout a non-public household wake on the Istana or Presidential Palace in Singapore, March 24, 2015.
Wong Maye-E/AP
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Wong Maye-E/AP
LONDON — Lee Hsien Yang, the estranged brother of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, stated Tuesday that he is now a “political refugee” after the U.Ok. authorities granted him asylum from what he described as persecution at dwelling.
The Lee brothers are the sons of Lee Kuan Yew, trendy Singapore’s founding father. They’ve been engaged in a public spat since 2017 over the late patriarch’s household dwelling, and Lee Hsien Yang has accused Singapore’s authorities of persecuting him, his spouse and his son.
In a Fb publish Tuesday, he stated that he sought asylum safety in 2022 “as a last resort.”
“The Singapore government’s attacks against me are in the public record. They prosecuted my son, brought disciplinary proceedings against my wife, and launched a bogus police investigation that has dragged on for years,” he wrote. “On the basis of these facts, the U.K. has determined that I face a well-founded risk of persecution and cannot safely return to Singapore.”
“I remain a Singapore citizen and hope that someday it will become safe to return home,” he added.
The Guardian printed an interview with Lee Hsien Yang on Tuesday by which he strongly criticized the Singapore authorities and alleged it facilitated cash laundering.
“People need to look beyond Singapore’s bold, false assertions and see what the reality really is like,” he was quoted as saying. “There is a need for the world to look more closely, to see Singapore’s role as that key facilitator for arms trades, for dirty money, for drug monies, crypto money.”
The Singapore authorities stated in an announcement there was no foundation to the allegations within the Guardian’s report. The town-state has a “robust system to deter and tackle money laundering and other illicit financial flows, which is consistent with international standards,” it stated.
“In Singapore, no one is above the law. Anyone, including the offspring of the founding prime minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, can be investigated and brought before the courts,” it added.
Lee Hsien Yang and his sister, Lee Wei Ling, who died earlier this month, accuse their eldest brother of abusing his energy to cease them from demolishing the household dwelling in response to the desires of their father, who died in 2015 after main Singapore with an iron grip for greater than three many years.
The household feud noticed Lee Hsien Yang and his spouse entangled in official investigations over allegations that the pair offered false proof in judicial proceedings relating to Lee Kuan Yew’s will.
Lee Hsien Loong stepped down in Might after 20 years on the helm. He handed energy to his deputy, Lawrence Wong, however nonetheless holds a Cupboard publish as senior minister.
The U.Ok. Residence Workplace did not instantly remark when requested about Lee Hsien Yang’s asylum standing.
