Singapore PM secures big defamation pay out

PHOTO

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has been awarded $US400,000 after winning a defamation case. [AFP]

Last Updated: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:38:00 +1100

A magazine and its editor have been ordered to pay Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father more than $US400,000 for defamation and legal costs.

Mr Lee's father, Lee Kuan Yew, is a senior cabinet adviser after serving as prime minister himself for many years.

The penalties were ordered by the Singapore High Court against the publisher, the Far Eastern Economic Review, and editor Hugo Restall.

The case concerned a 2006 article based on an interview with opposition figure Chee Soon Juan.

Dow Jones, which owns the magazine, denies any wrongdoing, but says it will settle the damages instead of prolonging the process.

The Far Eastern Economic Review is closing next month.