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).