THE TRIAL of three men taken to court for wearing T-shirts with a kangaroo dressed in a judge's robes has been postponed for three weeks to give them more time to prepare for the case.

The defendants - Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) assistant secretary-general John Tan Liang Joo, 47; full-time national serviceman Muhammad Shafi'ie Syahmi Sariman, 20; and activist Isrizal Mohamed Isa, 33 - wore the T-shirts between May 26 and May 28 in the Supreme Court building when hearings before Justice Belinda Ang were being held in Court 4B.

Those hearings were to assess defamation damages that the SDP, its leader Chee Soon Juan and his sister Chee Siok Chin had to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

At the start of court proceedings in the case against them on Tuesday morning, the trio stood up to ask the judge for an adjournment.

Tan and Muhammad Shafi'ie both told Justice Judith Prakash that they did not have time to prepare for the case as they were involved in a separate trial in the Subordinate Courts for participating in an illegal assembly.

Isrizal, in turn, said he needed more time to prepare, and to also look for a lawyers to represent him in the case.

Tan and Isrizal did not have lawyers present at the hearing, while Muhammad Shafi'ie was represented by lawyer Chia Ti Lik.

After a brief recess, Justice Prakash granted them an adjournment. The case will resume on Nov 24.