CORRESPONDENCE WITH MR CHIA THYE POH

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Home Affairs and Second Minister for Law (a) if he has received the letter of 20th May 1985 from Mr Chia Thye Poh; and (b) if he has replied to the letter and, if not, does he propose to.

Note: The Member for Anson has stated: "I have no personal pecuniary interest in this question but I should perhaps point out that I saw Mr Chia Thye Poh as his legal advisor after I was refused permission to see him as a Member of Parliament."

Prof. S. Jayakumar: The MP for Anson is fully aware that I have received the letter since a copy of that letter was sent to him by my Ministry at Chia's request. Chia in his letter merely denied the allegations against him and wanted to register his protest over the allegations. The letter did not call for a reply.

For reasons best known to himself, Chia has not bothered to challenge any of the allegations or grounds of his detention before the Advisory Board since his detention in November 1966. Chia knows that he is legally entitled to present his case to the Board which is an independent review board comprising a High Court judge and 2 prominent members of the public. He can engage his own counsel to represent him.