From the Strait Times Webby:-
Chee claims SM Goh, MM Lee avoiding him
He says Monday's hearing to set damages against him took place in
his absence as they didn't want to be cross-examined by him
By Lydia Lim
AFTER being absent from a court hearing on Monday to determine the
damages he must pay for defaming Mr Goh Chok Tong and Mr Lee Kuan
Yew, Dr Chee Soon Juan yesterday launched an attack on both leaders
and the court system.
He said the hearing was held despite his asking for a postponement
because Senior Minister Goh and Minister Mentor Lee wanted to avoid
being cross- examined by him.
'It was Lee and Goh who objected to the postponement and wanted to
proceed in my absence,' he said.
At Monday's hearing, counsel for the plaintiffs Davinder Singh said
Dr Chee had deliberately stayed away so that he and the foreigners
who fund him could 'conjure up a complaint of unfairness and, in
the process, attack Singapore'.
Mr Singh also said the hearing - which ordinarily would have been
held in April or May - had been postponed to Sept 6-8 to
accommodate Dr Chee's schedule.
This was because in January, Dr Chee informed the court that he
would be away from February to August on a fellowship in the United
States.
Mr Singh said Dr Chee had the 'opportunity of a lifetime' to
cross-examine Mr Goh and Mr Lee but chose instead to flee.
He did so because he did not want to be cross-examined and for the
public to be reminded that he was a fraud, cheat and liar, Mr Singh
added.
Yesterday, Dr Chee challenged these claims in a press statement
titled 'Just Who Is Avoiding Whom?'
In it, he asked if Mr Singh's claims sounded even remotely
reasonable when he was the one to ask for the hearing to be
postponed so he could be present.
Calling Monday's hearing a 'charade', he gave an account of his
correspondence with the courts.
He said he learnt only a few weeks ago that the hearing would take
place from Sept 6-8 and asked for it to be postponed until he
returned in the middle of the month.
He said that despite this, the courts set Sept 2 for both parties
to come before the registrar to agree on a mutually convenient date
for the hearing, a move that was 'nutty' as it was clear he would
not be back here by then.
He said the registrar then said the hearing would proceed as fixed
on Sept 6-8, which begged the question as to why there was a need
for a meeting on Sept 2.
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'Be that as it may, the question still remains: Why would the
plaintiffs be so anxious to push for a date in early
September?
'I realised the answer when I saw photographs of Lee and Goh
emerging from the courts: They did not want me to be present to
cross-examine them,' said Dr Chee, who is representing himself in
the case.
In the 2001 polls, he accused Mr Goh and Mr Lee of misleading
Parliament over an alleged $17-billion loan to former Indonesian
president Suharto.
He apologised but did not pay damages and later withdrew the
apology. The High Court ruled in August 2002 that he had defamed
the leaders and ordered him to pay damages. He appealed but lost in
April last year.
For the first time, he also explained where he needed to be when he
missed Monday's hearing.
His Singapore Democratic Party said earlier that he 'was on his way
back from the US'. Yesterday, he said he was now in Taiwan for a
Sept 9 conference, a date 'fixed way before' he knew of the court
dates.
His wife also wanted to visit her family and for their children to
spend time with their grandparents and, thus, he was staying there
until after the conference.
He maintained that the dispute could still be resolved by
adjourning the current hearing until his return to Singapore.
'I'd be happy to be cross- examined and then have the opportunity
to do the same with Lee and Goh. Do readers here think that the
former prime ministers will be willing to do this?
'It will be the litmus test to show just who is trying to avoid
whom,' he said.
