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SINGAPORE: While his relationship with his brothers is “not in the best of shape” and “the animosity is evident” on his part, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that he and his wife, Mrs. Ho Ching, do not want it to continue. the family dispute.
“I hope against hope that one day things can be fixed. But it’s one of those things that happens in life and this too will happen, ”he said on Monday (November 30) during the first day of his defamation trial.
Lee is suing the editor-in-chief of the socio-political website The Online Citizen (TOC), Terry Xu, for defamation over an article published in August last year.
The article was titled “Ho Ching, PM Lee’s Wife Shares an Article on Cutting Ties with Family Members,” referring to an article she posted on Facebook titled “Here’s why it’s okay to cut ties sometimes. ties with toxic relatives. “
Since 2017, Lee has been embroiled in a dispute with his brothers, Dr. Lee Wei Ling and Mr. Lee Hsien Yang, over the fate of his family’s home at 38 Oxley Road after the death of their father and the founding Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. .
Lee seeks compensation that includes aggravated damages, a court order to prevent Xu from publishing or disseminating the allegations and costs.
The TOC article, Lee’s attorneys have said, contains repeated false accusations by his brothers that seriously damage his character and reputation.
He also referenced a Facebook post written by Dr. Lee earlier that year, in which she said that Mr. Lee misled his father into believing that the Oxley Road house had been published by the government.
Xu named Lee’s siblings as third parties in the lawsuit, but will not call them to testify. Xu’s lawyer, Lim Tean, said Monday that Xu was also likely to suspend third-party proceedings against him.
READ: Court documents claim PM Lee ‘suffered loss and damage’ following publication of The Online Citizen article
READ: Prime Minister Lee will testify in court if libel suit against TOC editor Terry Xu goes to trial
SEPARATED FROM OXLEY ROAD NUMBER: PM
Lim spent Monday morning questioning the Prime Minister, who is represented by a team of five lawyers led by Legal Counsel Davinder Singh.
The two lawyers previously clashed about two months ago when Lee’s defamation lawsuit against blogger Leong Sze Hian went to trial.
When Mr. Lim asked the Prime Minister if he and Mdm Ho thought that your brothers were “judging and gossiping about you,” Mr. Lee replied, “Unfortunately, I have a disagreement with my brothers and our relationships are not at the best. been. Everybody knows that. “
Later he added: “I think the animosity is evident on the one hand from my brothers … I don’t think on the side (mine and my wife), we really want this to continue or have something against them.”
Referring to the TOC article, Mr. Lim said that the enmity between him and his brothers was “obvious”.
Mr. Lee responded that he had disassociated himself from the problem by selling the Oxley Road property to his brother and recusing himself from the government’s handling of the property.
“I never made posts on Facebook or criticized them publicly. I have not said anything but ministerial statements, “he said.
“Doesn’t your wife have animosity towards your brothers?” Mr. Lim asked.
“Indeed. I am not speaking on his behalf, but I think I am,” replied Mr. Lee.
The lawyer then asked, “Why didn’t you invite them to the Chinese New Year after your father died?”
Lead Counsel Singh objected to the question and Judge Audrey Lim agreed that the question was not relevant, reminding Mr. Lim to stick to his client’s defense.
Lim also pressured Lee to answer why he chose not to sue his siblings, adding that it was “understandable” that Xu thought he could refer to what they said.
“It’s not understandable,” Mr. Lee replied. “What I have explained in Parliament is that nobody can say anything about the house. It is not carte blanche for anyone else to use that to spread accusations and smear me even more. “
When Mr. Lim asked if he meant to say that journalists cannot report their brothers’ accusations, he said they could “report on anything subject to defamation laws.”
The lawyer inquired further about how his character and reputation were damaged, resulting in loss and damage.
In response, Mr. Lee said that the TOC article “made very serious allegations against me” and was “read by a considerable number of people.”
Then Lim asked Mr. Lee about his performance in the recent General Election (GE) in July of this year.
“You did very well in the last general election, didn’t you?” asked Mr. Lim, who was also a GE candidate with the Peoples Voice political party. “I won the election,” Lee said, adding that “it was not a referendum at 38 Oxley Road.”
“The GE is proof of your integrity and reputation, isn’t it?” asked the lawyer.
“If the lawyer wants to go in this direction, in 2015 (the Popular Action Party) won 69 percent. In 2020, we won 61 percent of the popular vote. I don’t accept that it’s because of the house, but if I accept the lawyer’s argument, the house did a lot of damage, ”Lee said.
“MY WIFE SHARES WIDELY”: PM LEE
During questioning, Mr. Lee also revealed that he had not read Mdm Ho’s Facebook post that led to the TOC article.
“I would have gone to read what my wife said but she didn’t say anything. TOC said he shared it. My wife reads often and shares a lot. I have full confidence in your judgment, ”he added.
Mr. Lim then asked Mr. Lee if it was reasonable for anyone reading Mdm’s Ho post, given the background and context of the dispute, to deduce that it was a comment about his family’s dispute.
Lee said he did not agree with that statement.
INITIAL STATEMENTS
Before cross-examination on Monday, both parties presented their opening statements to the court. A summary of Mr. Lee’s case is as follows:
– Readers of the TOC article will think that Mr. Lee misled his father into believing that the Government would put the Oxley Road house in an official bulletin and that it was useless for Mr. Lee to keep his address from demolishing it.
– They will also think that you made Mr. Lee consider other alternatives to demolition and will change his will to bequeath the house to Mr. Lee.
– Readers will believe that Mr. Lee removed Mr. Lee as executor and trustee of his will after learning in late 2013 that the government failed to register the property.
A summary of Mr. Xu’s defense is as follows:
– The allegedly libelous statements, when read in the context of the entire article, meant it was ironic that Mdm Ho shared the post “given the bad publicized relationship” between Mr. Lee and his brothers
– Readers will know that it was Mdm Ho who shared the post and the “alleged irony” had nothing to do with Mr. Lee.
The trial continues Tuesday morning with Mr. Lee on the witness stand again. He will be the only witness complaining.
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