Singapore’s prime minister was awarded more than a quarter of a million dollars in damages Wednesday after winning defamation suits against a news website editor and writer, the latest libel cases brought by the leader.
Critics say such lawsuits are among a range of tactics employed by the
tightly regulated city-state to silence dissent.
Terry Xu, chief editor of the Online Citizen Asia, and a writer for the
site were accused of defaming Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in two
separate lawsuits.
The writer had penned an article in 2019 about a bitter feud that has
rocked the premier’s family.
Lee will donate the damages to charity, the Straits Times newspaper
reported.
