Singapore fines blogger for 'defaming' prime minister

Singapore's High Court has ordered blogger and financial advisor Leong Sze Hian to pay €83,125 ($98,825) for allegedly defaming the city-state's self-professed anti-corruption leader.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took umbrage in November 2018 when Leong shared on Facebook an online article, implicating the premier in neighboring Malaysia's 1MDB money-laundering scandal, originally published by a Malaysian news portal.

Singapore High Court judge Edit Abdullah in his judgement issued Wednesday found that Leong in sharing that article had impugned Prime Minister Lee, 69, the eldest son of Singapore's late founder, Lee Kuan Yew, by suggesting dishonest activity.

Citing defamation was often used by the late Lee Kuan Yew, who sued foreign media and political opponents.

In 2017, a US judge granted asylum to a Singaporean blogger jailed twice for comments on the elder Lee.

'Deeply flawed' judgement

Leong's lawyer described Wednesday's verdict as "wrong and deeply flawed" — also given that the blogger had deleted his post 3 days after sharing it in compliance with a government request.

Many others had also shared the article but Leong had been "picked on," said Leong's lawyer Lim Tean, who had argued that authorities in 2018 had already denied the allegations from Malaysia.

Leong, reacting to the verdict, said: "I am of course disappointed." He urged the public to donate funds to help him pay damages ordered by the High Court.

"I hope that this is the last time that any politician will sue ordinary citizens for defamation," said Leong.

'Baseless' claims

Prime Minister Lee, who testified last October at the start of the blogger's Singapore trial, had accused Leong of making "baseless" claims harming his government's integrity.

Neighboring Malaysia's scandal centered on sums looted from the 1MDB state fund, allegedly by Malaysia's former leader Najib Razak and his inner circle.

As head of government since 2004, Lee had pledged zero tolerance toward corruption. Lee previously served as a Singapore army general, also serving stints as the island state's trade and finance minister.

Tough laws against 'false' posts

Singapore's Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Law, instituted in 2019, empowers cabinet ministers to block social media posts deemed as misinformation.

Rights groups have often accused Singaporean authorities of silencing criticism by using heavy-handed laws.

ipj/msh (AFP, Reuters)