A BANKRUPT Singapore opposition party leader was sentenced to five weeks in prison or a $5,000 fine for speaking in public without a permit, hours before the politician was due in court to face a contempt charge.

Chee Soon Juan, leader of the Singapore Democratic Party, was on Friday found guilty of the offence committed on April 8, 2006. He has six outstanding charges of speaking in public without a permit between November 2005 and April 2006 - just ahead of a general election - according to court documents.

'I continue to maintain that what I have done is well within the law and my constitutional rights,' Chee told the court.

His lawyer M. Ravi said he will be appealing the conviction.

The state prosecutor had asked for a 'substantial fine' to act as a deterrent for other 'like-minded' individuals.

Chee is due to appear in the Supreme Court on Friday to show why he should not be charged with contempt in connection with his behaviour during a hearing to assess damages in a defamation case involving Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The High Court has yet to rule on the amount of damages. Singapore has tough laws on public gatherings, and protests are rare. An assembly of five or more people requires a police permit and offences under the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act could lead to fines as high as $10,000.

Chee, who pleaded not guilty on the grounds of his constitutional right to free speech, was made a bankrupt in February 2006 when he failed to pay libel damages of $500,000 to former prime ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong.

The SDP is one of the more vocal opposition parties in Singapore. It did not get into Parliament in the last election in 2006 and 82 of the 84 elected parliamentary seats are held by the ruling People's Action Party, which has been in power since Singapore's independence in 1965. -- REUTERS, AFP