SINGAPORE: PM, MM sue Feer for defamation,
Prime Minister Lee and Minister Mentor Lee file suit against Hong
Kong-based magazine, Far Eastern Economic Review, for article on
opposing politician Chee Soon Juan,Straits Times,Thursday,
September 14, 2006,By Aaron Low
fr
--/www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-southeastasia.asp?parentid=52911
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew
have filed a defamation suit here against the publisher and the
editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review (Feer).
The suit, filed in the High Court on Aug 22 against Review
Publishing and Mr Hugo Restall, stemmed from an article on
opposition politician Chee Soon Juan.
Mr Restall interviewed the Singapore Democratic Party chief for the
article, titled "Singapore's 'Martyr', Chee Soon Juan", which the
Hong Kong-based magazine published in July.
The article remains freely available on Feer's website
through its archive service.
(Lion's note ,still availiable as at 15.09.2006,0903H)
It has also been picked up and circulated through e-mail messages,
and posted on several blogs and online forums.
It is understood that lawyers for the Lees served writs of summons
on Review Publishing and Mr Restall in their Hong Kong offices on
Sept 4.
Both have until Sept 25 to appear in the High Court here to respond
to the suit.
The lawyers first issued letters of demand from PM Lee and MM Lee
to the publisher and Mr Restall on July 13.
They demanded that Feer remove the allegedly defamatory article
from its website, issue a public apology and pay costs and damages
to the Lees by July 24.
Review Publishing offered to publish the lawyers' letter instead,
and suggested that the magazine carry an interview with MM
Lee.
Drew and Napier, acting for the Lees, rejected this and said the
magazine was attempting to profit from their defamation by carrying
an interview.
They then proceeded to file a defamation suit against both parties
in the High Court on Aug 22, and asked Feer to appoint lawyers to
receive the writs of summons.
Feer, which has no representative here, initially said it would
appoint lawyers, but did not do so.
On Aug 25, the Lees' lawyers applied to the High Court for
permission to serve the writs on the publisher and Mr Restall in
Hong Kong.
In the article, Mr Restall wrote of the political situation here
and the Government's managing of the reserves, among other
things.
He asked if Singapore deserved its reputation for a 'squeaky-clean
government', and cited revelations from the National Kidney
Foundation scandal.
The scandal raised questions about the Government's supervision of
the charity, he wrote.
He also referred to the Government's control of public funds, and
cited transparency as well as how funds were used, including at
election time.
Mr Restall and Review Publishing could not be contacted for their
comments last night.
Feer, which says it has a print circulation here of about 3,000, is
a declared foreign newspaper.
Last month, it was informed by the Government that this means it
has to comply with certain conditions, including appointing a
representative here to accept service of any notice or legal
process, and to submit a security deposit of $200,000.
It had up to Sept 11 to meet those requirements.
Date Posted: 9/14/2006
2.
3.what are the options for political leaders if they not
happy
with the medias:
---lock them up and throw into jail for long time
---forget/ forgive
---no reponse
---sue them and let the court records tell its history
---invite reports for tea and explaain to them
---list ur options
4.Sue them is bad ,but it is the best option that a
civilized society that can do.
5.
SINGAPORE: Leaders again resort to lawsuits to muzzle
press critics
http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/asia/sing14sept06na.html
6.LEEs sue FEER,by Reuters--13 Sep 06
