Court hearing on defamation award adjourned
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 12 May 2008 2228 hrs

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SINGAPORE: The High Court hearing to assess damages claimed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew against an opposition political party, has been adjourned for two weeks.

PM Lee and MM Lee are taking the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and its leaders to task for defamation.

On Monday, the High Court adjourned the hearing to give SDP and its lawyers more time to prepare their arguments. The outcome will now be known on 26 May.

The article at the centre of the defamation action appeared in the SDP publication "Demokrat" in April 2006 with the headline "Government's role in the NKF scandal".

The court found that the article had defamed PM Lee and MM Lee. Both leaders successfully obtained a summary judgement against SDP chief Dr Chee Soon Juan, his sister Chee Siok Chin and the party.

After two years of court procedures, all that is left now is to assess the quantum of damages. Both PM Lee and MM Lee were to have taken the stand from Monday to Wednesday.

But there was a turn of events on Monday. Lawyers for the Prime Minister and Minister Mentor said a major part of Monday's hearing was centred on whether issues which were meant to be dealt in chambers should be heard in open court.

The SDP and its lawyers felt they were of matters of public interest and hence should be heard in open court. But the judge finally decided that these matters could also be dealt with and heard in chambers.

The Chees also wanted Justice Belinda Ang to disqualify herself from hearing the case on the grounds that she had awarded the Lees a summary judgment in 2006 after the Chees had walked out of court.

But this was dismissed, with Justice Ang emphasising that it is her duty to hear all cases presented to her. Also dismissed was an application to allow a representative from the Malaysian Bar Council to be admitted to observe the hearings in chambers.

Another point brought up on Monday was the affidavit known as "Evidence in Chief" filed by the SDP, its leaders and a former opposition election candidate Francis Seow.

Lawyers for the Singapore leaders want them to be struck off, arguing they are irrelevant to the hearings.

This matter will now come up for hearing in chambers on 22 May, four days before the court sits again to start proceedings to assess the damages claimed by PM Lee and MM Lee. - CNA/ir