M Ravi

Ravi Madasamy (Tamil: ரவி மாடசாமி; born 9 April 1969), better known as M Ravi, is a Singaporean lawyer, speaker, writer and politician best known for his involvement in numerous high-profile court cases related to human rights issues, including the death penalty, freedom of expression, LGBT rights and voting rights.[1][2][3]

Ravi Madasamy
ரவி மாடசாமி
Ravi in 2019
Born (1969-04-09) 9 April 1969
Singapore
NationalitySingaporean
EducationBachelor of Laws
Alma materNational University of Singapore
Cardiff University
Occupationlawyer, speaker, writer, politician
Known foradvocacy of human rights in Singapore
Notable work
Land of Good English (2004)
Hung at Dawn (2005)
M Ravi: Kampong Boy (2013)

Background

Ravi was born in Singapore in 1969 to parents of Tamil descent. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in sociology and political science from the National University of Singapore, he went on to read law at Cardiff University and obtained a Bachelor of Laws.[4]

Career

Ravi defended the accused in high-profile death-penalty cases such as Public Prosecutor v Shanmugam s/o Murugesu (2004), Public Prosecutor v Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi and Another (2006) and Yong Vui Kong v Public Prosecutor (2009-2015), the latter of which raised other legal issues concerning human rights, including the constitutionality of judicial caning, as well as the reviewability of the clemency process and the exercise of prosecutorial discretion.[5][6] As a lawyer, he is known for his discursive courtroom style.[7] He has also argued other landmark human rights cases such as Shadrake v Attorney-General (2011) on freedom of expression and contempt of court, Tan Eng Hong v Attorney-General (2012) on gay rights and decriminalisation of homosexuality, and Vellama d/o Marie Muthu v. Attorney-General (2013) on voting rights, amongst others. In 2015, he defended Roy Ngerng in a defamation lawsuit initiated by Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister of Singapore.

Ravi acted for John Tan, Vice-President of the Singapore Democratic Party, in an application for a declaration that his contempt of court conviction did not disqualify him from standing for elections. He is also acting for 8 bus drivers from SBS Transit against the public transport operator over breach of employment terms relating to wages. He is also defending Daniel de Costa, who is accused of defaming members of the Cabinet of Singapore in an article published on The Online Citizen. Significantly, Ravi is now instructed by at least 12 inmates on death row whose clemency petitions had been rejected, among them Norasharee Gous and Gobi Avedian, who were the second and third cases which the Court of Appeal had agreed to reopen and review in Singapore's legal history.

Political career

In 2015, Ravi led the Reform Party (RP) team in Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the 2015 General Election.[8] His team lost to the People's Action Party, garnering only 21.4% of votes.[9]

Controversies

2015 suspension

In 2015, the Law Society issued a direction to Ravi to temporarily cease his legal practice. In response, Ravi and three companions appeared at the Law Society's premises, where he made inappropriate statements and acted in an unruly manner, which were recorded in a video clip that was later published on social media.[10] The direction was based on the Law Society's concerns that the state of Ravi's mental condition impaired his fitness to practise law.[11] The Court of Appeal then affirmed that decision and ordered Ravi be prohibited from applying for a practising certificate for a period of two years and to continue to seek medical help.[10]

2018 assault incident

In 2018, Ravi was sentenced to an 18-month mandatory treatment order after assaulting Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss, a fellow lawyer and opposition politician.[12] Ravi, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2006, had to undergo treatment to address his mental condition, in lieu of jail time.[13][12]

Gobi Avedian

Ravi argued that prosecutors were "overzealous" in their prosecution of former death-row inmate Gobi Avedian, a drug runner who had his death penalty conviction overturned, replaced with a 15 year jail sentence and 10 strokes of the cane. And that there was a "miscarriage of justice". Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has responded by saying that Mr Ravi was "categorically false" in his statement and that he should apologise.[14] Ravi said that he would start proceedings against both the Attorney-General Lucien Wong as well as Mr Hri Kumar and other members of the prosecution.[14]

List of publications
  • Land of Good English (2004)
  • Hung at Dawn (2005)[4]
  • M Ravi: Kampong Boy (2013)[4]

References
  1. Loh, Andrew (31 August 2018). "M Ravi Heads Afield but Heart Remains with Spore". The Independent. Singapore. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  2. "Singapore: Discontinue disciplinary action against lawyer M. Ravi | Letter". Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  3. "Letter to Law Society of Singapore on Hearing Against Lawyer M. Ravi". New York: Human Rights Watch. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  4. "M Ravi". Good Reads. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  5. Olukoya, Sam (27 July 2016). "Death Penalty No Outrage for Nigerians in Singapore". Rome. Inter Press Service.
  6. Lee, Amanda (14 November 2013). "Death penalty lifted for Yong Vui Kong". Today. Singapore. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  7. "Singapore Justice in the Dock Indeed". Asia Sentinel. Hong Kong. 19 October 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  8. Cheong, Danson (28 August 2015). "GE2015: Reform Party unveils final slate of candidates; M. Ravi to lead Ang Mo Kio GRC team". The Straits Times. Singapore. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  9. Lee Min Kok (12 September 2015). "GE2015: PM Lee's team wins Ang Mo Kio GRC with 78.6 per cent of votes". The Straits Times. Singapore. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  10. "The Law Society of Singapore v Ravi s/o Madasamy [2016] SGHC" (PDF). Supreme Court of Singapore. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  11. migration (11 February 2015). "Lawyer M Ravi makes a scene at Law Society office". The Straits Times. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  12. hermes (6 January 2018). "Mandatory treatment order for M. Ravi". The Straits Times. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  13. "M Ravi given 18-month mandatory treatment order after assaulting lawyer Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  14. hermesauto (19 October 2020). "AGC rebuts lawyer M. Ravi's claims that prosecutors were 'overzealous' in prosecuting death-row inmate". The Straits Times. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
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