Singapore court orders blogger to pay PM $99,000 in defamation case

The Singapore high court has ordered a blogger to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong S$133,000 ($98,825) in damages in a defamation case filed by the city-state’s leader, according to a judgment released on Wednesday.

Lee had sued Leong Sze Hian, a financial advisor, after he shared on Facebook an online news article that linked the premier to a financial scandal at Malaysia’s state fund 1MBD.

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Lee’s lawyers have said such links were “false and baseless.” Leong’s November 2018 Facebook post was subsequently deleted.

The matter of costs will be dealt with separately, judge Aedit Abdullah said in his decision.

The prime minister’s press secretary said the matter has been decided by the judge and Lee has nothing further to add.

Leong said he was glad his ordeal was over, but he was disappointed. He said he would seek advice from his lawyer over the judgment, as well as listen to views of other Singaporeans.

Reuters