PM Goh wins defamation damages from Jayeretnam

PM Goh wins defamation damages from Jayeretnam

SINGAPORE (AFP): A Singapore judge found yesterday top
opposition leader J. B. Jeyaretnam guilty of defaming Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong and ordered him to pay S$20,000
(US$13,000) in damages, plus costs.

High Court Judge S. Rajendran ruled that Jeyaretnam, a veteran
government critic, defamed Goh when he told a rally on the eve of
the general election in January that another opposition figure
had filed police complaints against Goh and other ruling party
leaders.

The amount included S$10,000 in aggravated damages to Goh, who
was grilled intensively by a British lawyer, George Carman, hired
by Jeyaretnam in the high-profile case monitored by international
human rights and legal groups.

"The enhanced damages arise out of the nexus between the harm
done by the defamatory words originally spoken and the further
harm done by the hurt caused to the plaintiff's feelings as a
result of the cross-examination on irrelevant matters," the
judge's ruling said.

Carman, one of Britain's most prominent libel specialists, had
placed Goh under grueling questioning on the stand, which upset
the premier.

Among other things, Carman had questioned Goh on democracy and
government policy in Singapore and at one point accused the prime
minister of being "economical with the truth", according to the
judge's ruling.

The judge said Carman's allegations were "spectacular but
unsubstantiated" and the barrister was, "on the defendant's
behalf, attempting to put government policy on the stand, with
little or nothing to back up his accusations".

"Ordinarily such rhetoric may not do much harm, but in this
case the rhetoric was an attack on the integrity of the plaintiff
as prime minister," he said.

Carman's allegations were "directed at the gallery and the
press in order to denigrate the prime minister and the way he
governs Singapore", he said.

The total damages awarded to Goh were only a tenth of the
amount sought by the premier, who had asked for $200,000 in
damages.

The judge ordered Jeyaretnam to pay 60 percent of legal costs
incurred by the prime minister, which the opposition leader
estimated would amount to more than $20,000.

London-based human rights group Amnesty International and the
Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists had sent legal
experts here to observe the proceedings against Jeyaretnam.