Lee Hsien Yang’s Ridout Road allegations against Singapore ministers Shanmugam, Balakrishnan ‘of gravest kind’, say lawyers in submission on damages
The level of damages sought by the ministers was not specified in the opening statement submitted by their team of lawyers led by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh.Mr Singh told reporters outside court after the hearing that they are leaving it to the court to determine the damages amount. Mr Lee did not comply with requests made by the ministers through their lawyers to apologise, withdraw his allegations and pay damages that they would donate to charity.
In this case, Mr Lee’s post were understood to mean that the ministers had acted corruptly and for personal gain by having the Singapore Land Authority give them preferential treatment in relation to the Ridout Road properties.The greater the standing of the defendant who made the defamatory claim and of the claimant subjected to the defamation, the higher the damages awarded ought to be, argued the lawyers.
They also said that Mr Lee published the post “in the midst of widespread public discussion and media coverage” of the Ridout Road saga. The lawyers added that even after removing the offending words in November that year upon the court’s orders, there continued to be substantial republication of the offending words accessible to the public on various blogs, websites or the media.The lawyers wrote that the natural indignation of the court at the injury caused to a claimant is a factor to be taken into account when determining the amount of damages to be awarded.
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