SINGAPORE: The Singapore High Court today ordered blogger and financial adviser Leong Sze Hian to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong S$133,000 (RM208,328) for defamation, The Straits Times reported.
The sum includes S$100,000 in general damages and S$33,000 in aggravated damages, said the news report.
The report said Leong was sued for sharing, on his Facebook page, an article from the Malaysian news site The Coverage that falsely linked Lee to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal in Malaysia.
Quoting Justice Aedit Abdullah, the report said, in his written judgment, Leong did so "without making any enquiries as to its truth whatsoever" and displayed "reckless disregard of whether the article was true or not".
"When seen cumulatively with his refusal to apologise for the defamatory words, malice may be made out on the facts," the judge was quoted as saying.
The proceedings took place in October last year.
-- BERNAMA
Bernama
Wed Mar 24 2021
The sum includes S$100,000 in general damages and S$33,000 in aggravated damages, said the news report. FILE pic
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