PM Lee To Testify In Court If Defamation Suit Against Terry Xu Goes To Trial

Things are getting extremely hot right now.

And I’m not talking about our weather here, for that’s a constant.

If you have been following our previous article on this case, you would be familiar with it.

But in case you haven’t, here’s a short recap:

PM Lee’s Press Secretary sent a letter to Terry Xu from The Online Citizen (TOC), warning to remove a defamatory post or legal action would be taken.

The article published repeated allegations made by Mr Lee’s siblings in the Oxley Road dispute.

However, PM Lee claims that the article’s allegations were “completely false”.

Terry refused to do so, and so last Thursday, PM Lee’s lawyers started the legal proceedings.

Which leads us into the situation we have today.

Potential Court Case

When the Prime Minister mentions taking something to court, you know things are about to get brutal.

PM Lee’s press secretary, Chang Li Lin, said in a statement yesterday (10 September 2019) that PM Lee will testify in court if his defamation suit against Mr Xu goes to trial.

She also said that PM Lee’s siblings could choose, together with Mr Xu, if they would like to testify and repeat the allegations in court.

His lawyers shared that PM Lee “has been gravely injured in his character and reputation, and has been brought into public scandal, odium and contempt”.

While PM Lee has decided not to take his siblings to court over the Oxley Road dispute, Ms Chang has warned that this is not a free pass to make allegations against him.

Right now, PM Lee is claiming damage, and a serious warning to restrain Mr Xu from publishing or spreading any allegations to the public.

You can read the full allegations over here.

Terry Xu’s Side

However, Mr Xu claimed previously that he felt his article was not defamatory and brought it back up even when it was removed.

You know the next time someone at the Prime Minister’s office tells you to remove something…

…just do it, seriously.

In a Facebook post made by Mr Xu, he claims that he intends to defend himself in court. He will also take this chance to ask PM Lee why he did not sue his siblings instead.

Further, Mr Xu is being sued as an individual, instead of TOC being sued. Thus, he has confirmed that he will pay any lawyer fees and court filing fees.

According to him, he doesn’t want anyone to donate to any fundraiser or campaigns that pertain to helping him get money for it.

But he would like people to donate to TOC instead.

You can read his full Facebook post below.

A pre-trial conference is scheduled for 15 Oct.

Stay updated with us as we follow through this case.