October 8, 2009 by admin
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Agence France-Presse, 8 October 2009
Singapore’s highest court Wednesday ruled that a
soon-to-be-defunct regional magazine and its editor had defamed the
country’s founder Lee Kuan Yew and his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong.
The three-member Court of Appeal rejected an attempt by the
publishers of the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) and its
editor, Hugo Restall, to have their conviction by a High Court
judge in September 2008 overturned.
Damages are to be awarded to the Lees at a later date. Decisions
by the Court of Appeal are final.
FEER is to be shut down in December, one of a growing number of
newspapers and magazines which have fallen victim to the Internet
age.
The Court of Appeal said “we agree with and affirm the judge’s
ruling” on the defamation case filed by the Lees in response to a
2006 Review article “and dismiss both appeals with costs.”
Peter Low, the lawyer representing FEER in the case, told AFP
there were no fresh instructions from his client following the
ruling.
Dow Jones and Co., which owns the magazine, declined to comment
on the outcome.
Singaporean leaders have won hundreds of thousands of dollars in
damages from critics and foreign publications. They say the
lawsuits are necessary to protect their reputations from unfounded
attacks.
Lee Kuan Yew, 86, now a senior cabinet adviser, served as prime
minister from 1959 to 1990. Lee Hsien Loong, 57, took over in 2004
from Goh Chok Tong.
The Lees sued Restall and Hong Kong-based Review Publishing,
alleging defamation in a 2006 article based on an interview with
Chee Soon Juan, an opposition party leader.
The article — entitled “Singapore’s ‘Martyr,’ Chee Soon Juan” —
described the Singapore Democratic Party secretary general’s battle
against the ruling People’s Action Party and its leaders.
In the article, Restall also touched on the success of Singapore
officials in libel suits against critics.
Last month Dow Jones and Co. announced that it would close FEER,
which from 1946 chronicled Asia’s post-war recovery, in
December.
The publication’s heyday was in the 1980s when it was known for
the depth and quality of its reporting and for standing up to
authoritarian governments and big business.
“Unfortunately, despite several attempts at invigorating the
brand, the Review’s continued losses in advertising revenue and
readers are now unsustainable,” said Dow Jones and Co., part of the
News Corp. media empire controlled by tycoon Rupert Murdoch. –
AFP
Source:
http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/10/08/top-singapore-court-affirms-ruling-against-review-magazine/
