Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong wins $275,000 in defamation case

Singapore - Article was published by bloggers about status of the home of Lee's late father and the city-state’s modern-day founder, Lee Kuan Yew

Singapore’s high court ordered two news bloggers to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong a combined $275,113 in damages on Wednesday, over an article about the status of the home of his late father and the city-state’s modern-day founder, Lee Kuan Yew.

The premier filed lawsuits against writer Rubaashini Shunmuganathan and editor Xu Yuan Chen, also known as Terry Xu, over the August 2019 article published on The Online Citizen that included references to a disagreement within the Lee family about what to do with the property.

High court judge Audrey Lim said the article “impugned Lee’s reputation and character” by alleging he was dishonest.

“This struck at the heart of Lee’s personal integrity and could severely undermine his credibility, not just personally but also as the prime minister, and call into question his fitness to govern with integrity,” Lim said in a written judgement.

Xu, a Singaporean, was ordered to pay Lee S$210,000, while in a separate suit over the same article, Malaysian Rubaashini was ordered to pay S$160,000. Neither immediately responded to requests for comment.

Lee appeared in court in the case in May, during which he said “sensational allegations” had been made.