SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The Singaporean minister testified Tuesday in court in his defamation case opposed to a blogger who shared an online article linking him to the 1MBD cash laundering scandal in Malaysia.
As head of a government that has promised zero tolerance for corruption, Lee Hsien Loong, 68, is no stranger to seeking his reputation through legal channels.
Lee is suing monetary adviser Leong Sze Hian, 66, for a Facebook post that has been removed since November 2018 and connected to an article on Malaysia’s news website, The Coverage.
Lee told the court that the fees in the article constituted “serious harm” to his own integrity and reputation and that of the Singapore government, in statements published through the national media.
Lee’s lawyers have said in the past that Leong shared the message “out of malice” to harm his client, which Leong denied.
On Tuesday, for several hours, Leong’s lawyer asked Lee about why he decided to sue his client, a common commentator and government policy critic, not the original and others who shared the article.
Lee, the world’s highest-paid political leader, said his resolve followed an argument with his lawyer and the most productive way to protect his reputation, according to Straits Times and Channel NewsAsia.
The test is expected to last until the end of the week.
Figures from the People’s Action Party, adding Lee’s deceased father and Singapore’s modern founder, Lee Kuan Yew, have in the past sued foreign media, conflicting political parties and online commentators for defamation.
Singapore remains strict with national media and last year passed a “fake news” law that critics say can further erode freedom of expression in the rich city-state. The government says it doesn’t stop valid complaints or freedom of speech.
Lee last spoke in 2015 to answer questions from a blogger he sued for implicating him in an irregularity in controlling Singapore’s mandatory retirement savings plan budget.
In a turn toward this week’s trial, Leong’s lawyer Lim Tean, who heads a small opposition party that did not show up for this year’s election, was arrested for alleged abuse of trust.
Lim said the arrest had political motivations, which the police denied, and released him before the hearing.
(Report through John Geddie and Edgar Su; Editing through Michael Perry and Clarence Fernandez)
Subscribe
Sign up for our news explosion.