By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (IslamOnline) - In another shakeout in the tiny republic of Singapore, a former head of a website called Fateha.com, filed a police report Saturday, July 6, alleging that three political leaders could have criminally defamed him, news reports said Sunday.

Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff named Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Yatiman Yusof, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Information, Communications and the Arts), the Fateha.com website news section said.

The report from the website confirmed other news reports in local newspapers Sunday on the potential case that could result from the filing of the criminal defamation report by Shariff. The Singapore authorities will face some commotion on the Island if Shariff’s report proves to be founded.

Shariff said remarks by PM Tong and DPM Lee claiming that he held extreme views prompted other people to call him an extremist, which affected his reputation as a social activist.

He added that remarks by Yusuf questioning his loyalty to Singapore “made it look as if I am a traitor to my country.”

Zulfikar Shariff made the headlines in Singapore last year when he challenged the local authorities over the scarf issue.

He was then investigated for his remarks about Osama bin Laden and the local Muslim leaders who are members of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

Shariff’s move came after police investigations of his articles posted on the Fateha.com website last month.

Police said they wanted to know whether Shariff criminally defamed Muslim Affairs Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, and Ho Ching, executive director of Temasek Holdings in three articles, Fateha.com said.

The articles questioned Yaacob’s standing as leader of the Malay/Muslim community, challenged the Government's stance on the no-scarf for Muslim girls rule in schools, and criticized the recent appointment of Ho in Temasek Holdings.

In an interview to IslamOnline.net earlier this year, Shariff said he expected the authorities to take actions against him but that he left it “to Allah to decide his fate.”

On the other hand, the police probe into allegedly defamatory articles on fateha.com has raised the eyebrows of the internet community in Singapore, with some wondering if they would be the next to come under the microscope, the Straits Times on Sunday reported.

Observers also said the action was a setback for cyberspace and public debate and would force more people to become anonymous online.

Some observers told IslamOnline that the case might prove detrimental to the Singaporean authorities since Shariff seems determined to challenge them all the way.

After news of the probe, a user, using the pseudonym Dodi Al-Fayed, after the late Princess Diana's boyfriend, posted this question online: ‘How exposed are we?’

The flurry of worried messages followed news that former Fateha chief Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff was being investigated for possible criminal defamation for articles on the Muslim news website, the Straits Times said.

In Singapore, criminal defamation is defined as an offence that results in a breach of peace, intending to hurt not only the subject, but also his relatives, society or a specific group of people.

If a person feels he has been criminally defamed, he can make a police report. If found guilty, a person can be jailed for up to two years, fined or both, sources said.

The Fateha.com organization gained prominence early 2002 by expressing sympathy for suspected terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, and opposing Singapore's support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism.