High Court Judgment on PM Lee’s Defamation Case Indeterminate, to be Released at a Later Date

On 1 Sep, 2019, Prime Minster Lee Hsien Loong sent a letter to Terry Xu from alternative media site The Online Citizen (TOC) about a certain article published on the platform a month before.

Titled: “PM Lee’s wife Ho Ching weirdly shares article on cutting ties with family members”, it detailed the dispute that PM Lee and his siblings have been embroiled in over their family home at 38 Oxley Road since 2017.

According to PM Lee’s lawyers, the article contained false allegations repeated from his siblings that gravely injured his character and reputation.

In his 1 Sep letter to Mr Xu, PM Lee instructed the chief editor to do four things by 4 Sep:

• Remove the article from his website
• Remove the Facebook post
• Publish an apology
• Never publish the same allegations

Xu, however, didn’t comply with these requests, compelling PM Lee to initiate legal proceedings.

Now, less than two years later, we finally have a conclusion to the case.

Unfortunately, the conclusion is inconclusive.

High Court Judgment on PM Lee’s Defamation Case Indeterminate, to be Released at a Later Date

After lawyers on both sides gave their closing arguments on Monday (15 Feb), High Court judge Audrey Lim reserved her judgement.

The judge will decide in due course if the article was defamatory, and if so, what damages PM Lee is entitled to.

While PM Lee has not specified the amount of damages he is seeking, his lawyers have noted that in other similar libel trials involving prime ministers, between S$300,000 and S$330,000 had been awarded.

The lawyers argued that Mr Xu’s case was worse than previous ones, as he has displayed malice and aggravating conduct.

False Allegations

So, what provoked this lawsuit?

PM Lee’s lawyers claim TOC’s article contains several false allegations, including one that alleged his father removed him as an executor and trustee of his will, after learning in late 2013 that the property had not been gazetted as a heritage building by the Government.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew died in March 2015.

However, Mr Xu argued that the article does not correlate the removal of PM Lee as an executor and Mr Lee’s alleged discovery that the property had not been gazetted.

Xu’s Lawyer: PM Lee ‘Feared’ Suing His Siblings Because of What They Would Say

Earlier in the trial, Mr Xu’s lawyer, Mr Lim Tean of Carson Law Chambers, contended that PM Lee “does not want to sue (his siblings) because he fears what they would say”.

In response, PM Lee’s lawyer, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, referred to PM Lee’s previous explanation in Parliament that such a lawsuit would “further besmirch our parents’ names”.

It would also drag out the process and cause more distress to Singaporeans, the prime minister said.

Mr Lim replied that PM Lee had chosen to go after Mr Xu rather than his siblings – the “source of the libel”.

“His siblings have been calling him names and have been making most damning allegations against him… even calling him a dishonourable son, which must be the gravest wound to any person of Chinese origin. (He) claims in this court to believe in filial piety. He takes no action against them.”

He asserted that TOC did not damage PM Lee’s reputation and that there was no evidence pointing to the contrary.

PM Lee’s Lawyer: Siblings Should Have Been Called in to Testify

In response, Mr Singh said that Mr Lim should have called PM Lee’s siblings to testify and that not doing so was a “critical” failure.

As to why Mr Lim chose not to do this, Mr Singh had an explanation.

He believes that after Mr Xu had lunch with Mr Lee Hsien Yang and his wife, Mrs Lee Suet Fern, before the trial began, Mr Xu realised the allegations were false.

“If the siblings came to court, it would only nail the lie.”

PM Lee is also seeking about S$150,000 in damages in a separate defamation lawsuit against Leong Sze Hian over a Facebook post.

That decision, too, has not been reached yet.

Feature Image: Shutterstock.com / Asatur Yesayants