Channel NewsAsia -
Tuesday, October 14
SINGAPORE: The High Court has awarded six—figure sums
to both Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan
Yew in their libel case against the Singapore Democratic Party and
its leaders.
Justice Belinda Ang said she came to the conclusion that a fair
and reasonable figure for damages was S$500,000
for Mr Lee Hsien Loong and S$450,000 to Mr Lee
Kuan Yew for defamatory remarks which appeared in an SDP
publication during the 2006 General Election.
After taking into account the S$170,000 which each plaintiff had
earlier received in settlement from six other defendants, she
awarded damages of S$330,000 to be paid to Prime Minister Lee and
S$280,000 to Minister Mentor Lee.
Justice Ang said the amount was commensurate with and
proportionate to the gravity of the libel and the "egregious
behaviour" of the defendants Chee Soon Juan and Chee Siok Chin.
Justice Ang said defendants Chee Soon Juan and Chee Siok Chin
had played to the gallery.
She ordered them to pay aggravated damages, saying they had
attempted to establish the truth of the libel under the pretext of
cross—examining the plaintiffs.
She added the plaintiffs had been "subjected to insulting
behaviour and more than unpleasant cross—examination, which
increased their sense of having been ridiculed and humiliated".
— CNA/ir
Monday, 13 October 2008
Singapore
Democrats
High Court Judge Belinda Ang has ordered the Singapore Democrats to
pay Mr Lee Kuan Yew $280,000 and Mr Lee Hsien Loong $330,000 in
damages.
The Lees sued the SDP and its executive members in 2006 over an
article published in the party's newspaper The New
Democrat which discussed the NKF scandal and the Government's
handling of the matter.
Ministers Khaw Boon Wan and Lim Hng Kiang had praised NKF
despite warning flags being repeatedly raised about the operations
handled by Mr T T Durai and his staff members. Mr Durai and his
Chariman, Mr Richard Yong, were subsequently convicted of various
criminal offences.
Judge Ang had awarded the case to the Lees in a summary judgment
that meant that the defendants could not bring the matter to an
open trial. This left the Lees to proceed to assessing the amount
of damages to be paid to them.
At this hearing, the defendants comprising of the party, Dr Chee
Soon Juan, and Ms Chee Siok Chin (the rest of the executive members
apologised and did not contest the case) pressed the point that the
Lees were not worth the damages they claimed because their
reputations were forced upon society through dictatorial
means.
During the hearing, the Lees wanted the cross-examination to be
limited to two hours each even though three days had been set
aside. Judge Ang agreed.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew also wanted the hearing to go on through the lunch
hour. Again Judge Ang agreed. Mr Lee also had an entourage of
bodyguards who accompanied him into the courtroom which Judge Ang
allowed.
The defendants protested against these decisions. Judge Ang held
the defendants in contempt of court and sent Dr Chee and Ms Chee to
prison for 12 and 10 days respectively.
Incidentally, Mr Gopalan Nair is currently serving a three-month
prison sentence when he was found guilty by another High Court
Judge , Mr Kan Ting Chiu, for insulting Judge Ang.
In a letter to the defendants sent today, the Supreme Court
informed the defendants that they could collect the judgment at a
cost of $385. The SDP has not collected the judgment but has learnt
that the amounts awarded total $610,000.
Dr Chee has already been made a bankrupt from a previous lawsuit
taken by Messrs Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong. He was also sued in
1993 by PAP MP Dr S Vasoo and two other university officials after
he was dismissed from the National University of Singapore where he
lectured.
Ms Chee Siok Chin was also made bankrupt after she was unable to
meet payments demanded by the AG's Chambers over a case which she
and other activists took against the Minister for Home Affairs and
Police Commissioner over a protest in 2005.
The police threatened to arrest the protesters even though there
were only four of them. The law says that only five or more persons
constituted an illegal assembly.
The Lees will now have to apply for a bankruptcy petition against
the defendants and can then make SDP bankrupt and de-register the
party.
The Singapore Democrats stand firm in our conviction to continue to
speak up for Singaporeans no matter what happens. The punitive
actions taken by the PAP cannot deter us from our cause to bring
democracy and justice to our nation.
The two versions, both CNA and SDP's, are copied above for your
reference.
By the way, I think this is quite absurd. I don't think the Bush
administration sues every single American for telling others that
George W. Bush is a corrupt president. This is the prohibition of
freedom of speech in it's simplest term.
Besides, what is a mere $600k to them anyway?
The main purpose of this is to completely eradicate Chee Soon
Juan and his gang of friends, simply put.
If you read the TODAY newspaper, you would've noticed that this
paragraph was not even featured in the first few pages. In fact, it
was squeezed off into one small corner and details were little.
