Former Solicitor-General Francis Seow dies in US

SINGAPORE - Former Solicitor-General Francis Seow has died at the age of 88 in Boston, Massachusetts where he had been living in exile, Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan said on his Facebook page today (Jan 21).

Dr Chee told Yahoo Singapore that Mr Seow had apparently died of pneumonia.

Mr Seow was appointed Solicitor-General in 1969, and subsequently became Law Society president in 1986.

He was one of the 16 individuals arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 1987 as part of Operation Spectrum, for their alleged involvement in a Marxist conspiracy against the Government.

In 1988, he was again detained under the ISA for 72 days after being accused of receiving funds from the United States to promote democracy in Singapore.

He then became part of the Workers' Party Eunos GRC team that narrowly lost to People's Action Party in the General Election that year. He later fled to the US after being convicted of tax evasion and had remained there since.

huizhen@sph.com.sg