According to a judgement released on Wednesday, the Singapore high court ordered a blogger to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong S$133,000 ($98,825) in damages in a defamation case filed by the city-state`s leader. Lee Kuan Yew, have previously sued foreign media, political opponents and online commentators for defamation.Â
It All Started With An Article From A Malaysian Online News Site
The financial advisor, Leong Sze Hian shared an online news article on Facebook that linked the premier to a financial scandal at Malaysia’s state fund 1MBD.
 Leong had deleted the Facebook post within three days of sharing it, as per the government request. Lee’s lawyers have said such links were “false and baseless” and thus Lee had sued Leong Sze Hian.Â
Lee is no stranger to attempting to protect his reputation through legal means as the leader of a government that has pledged zero tolerance for corruption.
The Final Verdict
Judge Aedit Abdullah in his decision said he did not find that Leong “can reasonably claim that the defamatory words did not impugn” Lee’s character as the article had suggested that the premier was, at the very least, involved in serious and dishonest criminal activity.
According to the judge, 45 people responded to Leong’s post, which had the privacy settings set to public. Leong had previously said he “merely shared” an article from a Malaysian online news site without adding any comments or changing the content.
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 legal advice over the judgment, as well as listen to the views of other Singaporeans.
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