SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Supreme Court has thrown out an appeal by the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) in its defamation case involving Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
The magazine had been found guilty of defaming the two leaders in an article published in the July—August 2006 issue, which quoted Mr Chee Soon Juan, secretary—general of the Singapore Democratic Party.
FEER had appealed the verdict, but judges Chan Sek Keong, Andrew Phang Boon Leong and Judith Prakash on Wednesday dismissed the appeal with costs.
The court agreed with the earlier judgement that the words used in FEER’s article, written by its Editor Hugo Restall, were indeed defamatory to both Prime Minister Lee and Minister Mentor Lee.
The prime minister and minister mentor were represented by lawyers Davinder Singh and Wilson Wong from Drew & Napier.
The next stage is to assess the damages to be awarded to both leaders.
— CNA/sc
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Is our judicial system really impartial?