Warning: this article will contain no jokes. After all, being sued by the Prime Minister is no joke.
Blogger Who Defamed PM Lee Crowdfunded S$113k to Pay Off Damages; Largest Donor Gave S$5K
Blogger Leong Sze Hian was ordered by a court of law to pay Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong S$133,000 for defamation after sharing a Facebook post connecting him to the 1MDB corruption scandal. You can read more about the case here.
The seemingly astronomical amount is being paid for by a crowdfunding effort, which Mr Leong announced on Facebook on Sunday (4 Apr).
He announced the crowdfunding campaign together with his lawyer, Lim Tean, in the days following the court judgment. (Familiar name?)
Since then, more than 2,000 people have chipped in, raising a total of S$133,082, Must Share News reports, including a huge single donation of S$5,000.
Among the more prominent donors are former politicians Chiam See Tong and Lina Chiam, who accompanied their donations with a message thanking Mr Leong for his contribution to the Singapore People’s Party (SPP).
Mr Leong, understandably, has been ecstatic: in his Facebook post, he extolled the crowdfunding campaign as a “miracle on Easter Sunday”, and even included a dramatic poem about the freedom of speech. You can read the full post down below:
Not The First Lawsuit
Mr Leong’s case is frequently associated with the defamation lawsuit blogger Roy Ngerng fought and lost in 2015, in which he was ordered to pay S$150,000.
Mr Ngerng had published prolifically articles attacking the Central Provident Fund (CPF) system, and found himself in legal trouble after calling PM Lee “a thief”, according to The Straits Times.
The court decision, in Mr Lee’s favour, found that Mr Ngerng likely “cynically defamed” Mr Lee to gain attention to his blog, The Heart Truths, adding that “such accusations, striking at the heart of one’s personal integrity, can severely undermine the credibility of the target.”
Mr Ngerng had also conducted a crowdfunding campaign, raising S$122,700, The Straits Times reports. He spent the amount on fighting the lawsuit, including S$50,000 to his first lawyer, M. Ravi, and S$35,000 to Mr Lee’s lawyer to compensate for the costs of two hearings conducted during the course of the case.
Mr Ngerng will pay the hefty compensation in instalments across 17 years. He will begin by paying S$100, and then S$1000 a month starting April 2021, until the full amount is accounted for in 2033.
Ouch.
Feature Image: Facebook (Leong Sze Hian) / Facebook (Lee Hsien Loong)
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