Singapore, September 30: Mr Lee Hsien Yang, the younger brother of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, confirmed that he paid two ministers who sued him for defamation.
Mr. Lee Hsien Yang wrote on Facebook on September 29 that he paid a total of SGD 619,335.53 (USD 483,610) to Singapore's Law Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, according to Bloomberg.
Mr Lee Hsien Yang said the amount included damages, costs and expenses related to the order issued by the Singapore High Court in May
Singapore's High Court in May ordered Lee Hsien Yang to pay S$400,000 ($295,800) for defaming the two ministers.
Earlier, on November 27, 2023, Singapore High Court Judge Ng Hee-han ordered Mr. Lee Hsien Yang to pay damages to two ministers for a "defamatory" Facebook post. Judge Ng said he made the judgment without Mr. Lee Hsien Yang present after Mr. Lee failed to respond to the allegations, according to AFP.
Judge Ngo also ordered Mr Lee Hsien Yang to refrain from further disseminating allegations that the two ministers had acted "corruptly".
According to The Straits Times on July 30, 2023, Minister Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Balakrishnan said they would sue Mr. Lee Hsien Yang for defamation if he did not apologize for making false accusations.
"Mr Lee Hsien Yang has accused us of engaging in corrupt and self-serving behaviour by allowing the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) to illegally cut down trees in exchange for incentives, as well as allowing SLA to fund the renovation of two houses at 26 and 31 Ridout Road. These allegations are false," Mr Shanmugam said.
Minister Shanmugam said they had asked Mr Lee to withdraw the allegations and pay damages, which would be donated to charity. "If he does not do so, we will sue," Mr Shanmugam stressed.
On 25 July 2023, Mr Lee Hsien Yang was asked to correct a Facebook post he made on 23 July, commenting on Ridout Road. He was issued a correction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma), Singapore's law that controls fake news.
In his first comments since being threatened with legal action by the two ministers, Mr. Lee Hsien Yang said that he was simply stating the facts reported by the media, according to The Straits Times on July 30, 2023.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
