SINGAPORE: Former lawyer M Ravi, known for taking on human rights cases and his pro bono work, has died. He was 56.
Friends of Mr Ravi confirmed the news to CNA on Wednesday (Dec 24). The cause of death has not been disclosed.
In response to media queries, the police said the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was called to attend to an urgent case in an apartment at 5.40am.
The person who needed assistance was Mr Ravi. He was admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital unconscious, where he was subsequently pronounced dead.
The police said there was another person present at the apartment when SCDF arrived. The person, identified as “A” by the police, had called SCDF.
“‘A’ said that he and M Ravi had taken drugs a few hours earlier, and M Ravi exhibited concerning symptoms after he took the drugs, and ‘A’ had administered CPR to M Ravi. ‘A’ also said that the drugs belonged to him,” the police added.
“Police were also alerted to this case of unnatural death. Based on preliminary investigations, police do not suspect foul play.”
The police added that the cause of death can only be confirmed after the post-mortem and that investigations are ongoing.
“A” has been arrested by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) for suspected drug-related offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act, added the police.
LEGAL CAREER
Mr Ravi, whose full name was Ravi Madasamy, was born in 1969 and was a lawyer for more than 25 years.
He was widely known for representing inmates on death row and had also been in the news over his conduct. He was also an advocate for the LGBTQ community and supported the abolition of the death penalty.
Expressing its condolences, non-profit organisation Oogachaga said Mr Ravi took a “bold and unprecedented” step in 2010, when he represented a man who filed Singapore’s first legal challenge in the courts against the constitutionality of Section 377A, the law that criminalised sex between men. The law was repealed in 2022.
Lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam, who had previously served as Mr Ravi’s counsel, said that he “was a man who stood up for and fought hard in court for what he believed in”.
“He was dedicated to his pro bono work and deeply cared for his clients,” Mr Thuraisingam added.
“He was a friend and he will be deeply missed by all in the legal fraternity.”
Lawyer Ariffin Sha said that Mr Ravi played a key role in his journey towards a career in law.
“He is an inspiration and one of the reasons I first read law after he spoke to my late father to let me pursue law,” said Mr Ariffin.
“I hope we remember his good heart and his passion for access to justice.”
In a statement, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) said it was shocked by Mr Ravi’s “sudden demise” and that it was mourning his death.
The opposition party described him as a “staunch advocate for the civil liberties and political rights of Singaporeans” who “worked tirelessly to speak up for the voiceless in the country and beyond”.
Mr Ravi had previously represented the SDP in court.
According to the Encyclopedia of Singapore Tamils, an online resource, Mr Ravi was a graduate of the National University of Singapore and Cardiff University and was called to the Bar in 1996.
He founded his own law firm, M Ravi Law, in 2019.
In 2023, he was recognised for his human rights work by the International Bar Association, receiving its “Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Legal Practitioner to Human Rights”.
The organisation praised Mr Ravi for his “extraordinary dedication to defending human rights and advocating for the decriminalisation of homosexuality and the abolition of the death penalty in the Republic of Singapore”.
Mr Ravi had several brushes with the law, being fined for disorderly behaviour in 2004 and given a mandatory treatment order to address his bipolar disorder in 2018, before he was sentenced to 14 weeks’ jail for a string of offences in 2024.
He was handed a five-year suspension from practising law in 2023 for making “grave and baseless accusations of improper conduct” against the attorney-general, officers from the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Law Society.
Mr Ravi was a one-time political candidate, running in the 2015 General Election as part of a Reform Party slate that contested Ang Mo Kio GRC.
He was also an author, publishing an autobiography, Kampong Boy, in 2013. The book was shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize the following year.
