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SINGAPORE – Opposition politician Leong Sze Hian, who is being sued by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for defamation, refused to testify and be questioned on the second day of the civil trial in the High Court on Wednesday (October 7) .
The high-profile trial, which was originally scheduled to last until Friday, was postponed for final arguments next month.
Leong’s lawyer, Lim Tean, told Judge Aedit Abdullah that the plaintiff’s case was “frivolous and vexatious” and did not require his client to testify in his defense, according to media reports.
On Tuesday, Lee testified and was questioned by Lim.
About the case
The case revolves around a Facebook post by Leong on November 7, 2018 that contains a link to an article alleging that Lee corruptedly used his position as prime minister to help former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to launder billions from the insolvent Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
The Malaysian news site The Coverage article was titled “Breaking News: Singapore Lee Hsien Loong Becomes Key Target in 1MDB Investigation – Najib Signed Several Unfair Deals with Hsien Loong in Exchange for Money Laundering.”
Leong’s post was accompanied by a photo of Lee and Najib smiling for a wefie.
The article alleged that Najib “signed several unfair deals with Singapore’s Lee Hsien Loong, such as the construction of the Singapore-Malaysia high-speed train when the country was RM 1 trillion in debt and a water sale agreement well below the price, in exchange for the assistance of Singapore banks in money laundering of the billions of 1MDB. “
At the time of Leong’s Facebook post, criminal charges had already been filed against Najib for breach of trust and money laundering in connection with 1MDB.
The Wall Street Journal had reported, as early as July 2015, that Malaysian investigators investigating 1MDB had tracked nearly $ 700 million of deposits into what they believed were Najib’s personal bank accounts. After the Malaysian general election in May 2018, in which Najib was removed from his post as prime minister, the new Malaysian government began investigating him for possible crimes in relation to 1MDB.
Leong removed his post from Facebook three days later, on November 10, 2018, after reading a notice from Infocomm’s Media Development Authority. His post received 22 reactions, 5 comments, and 18 shares.
On November 12, 2018, Lee’s attorney served him a demand letter, alleging defamation and demanding a public apology and compensation.
Leong did not comply and filed his defense documents and a counterclaim against Lee on December 26, 2018, saying that the defamation suit was an abuse of judicial process.
The counterclaim was rejected by the High Court in March of last year and the decision was confirmed by the Court of Appeal in September of last year.
Leong, a blogger and financial advisor, participated in this year’s general election under the banner of Peoples Voice. Lim founded the party in October 2018 and is its general secretary.
Plaintiff’s arguments
Lee’s legal team, led by lead attorney Davinder Singh, said in their 82-page opening statement for the case: “Given what Singapore readers knew, the fact that by that time 1MDB had become a synonym for corruption and criminal activity … the photograph of the applicant and Mr. Najib showing a close and welcoming relationship between them in the context of the allegation that the applicant had become a key target of the investigation, the Ordinary Post reader, at a minimum, I have understood that the offensive Words in the post mean that the plaintiff was an accessory to criminal activity related to 1MDB. “
The lawyers said: “The Post did not simply associate the plaintiff with 1MDB (which in itself would have been defamatory), it claimed that it had become a ‘key objective of the investigation’ in relation to a matter that it had come to represent. corruption and criminal activity and in the context of what ordinary Singaporean readers would have known from the STR article (States Times Review) and the Cover article. “
Lee’s attorneys added: “Those accusations are unequivocal and without reservation. The accusation of corruption could not have been clearer ”.
Lee seeks aggravated damages.
Meanwhile, Leong’s attorney, Lim Tean, said of his client in a 14-page opening statement: “His case is, and always has been, that the plaintiff, considering the position he holds and the state machinery that operates , must point the Defendant and sue him for damages and a court order for defamation for simply sharing a publication of an article in the established circumstances is an error as a matter of law and justice. “
