Lee seeks libel damages

Lee seeks libel damages

SINGAPORE (Reuter): A lawyer for Lee Kuan Yew urged a Singapore court yesterday to award libel damages "substantially in excess of" US$213,000 from an American professor for defaming him in an article.

High Court Justice S. Rajendran said he needed time to think it over and would announce a decision at a later date. Lawyer Tan Kok Quan told the court a 1994 newspaper article by Christopher Lingle was "vicious and malicious".

"It accused (Lee) of abusing his power and position to manipulate the judiciary to achieve his political ends," said Tan. "It struck at the very core of (Lee's) political credo and attacked the very basis of what he advocates -- i.e., a clean and corruption-free government."

Lingle's article was published in the International Herald Tribune (IHT) newspaper on Oct. 7, 1994. It referred to "intolerant regimes in the region", some of which rely "upon a compliant judiciary to bankrupt opposition politicians".

The commentary did not specifically name Singapore, but executives of the IHT, owned by The New York Times and The Washington Post, apologized for the article and agreed last November to pay Lee Singapore S$300,000 ($213,000).