THE Far Eastern Economic Review (Feer) will appeal against a High Court ruling that the weekly magazine defamed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

The Straits Times learned that Feer has filed a 'notice of appeal' against the ruling that its publisher and editor defamed the two Singapore leaders in a July 2006 article.

A notice of appeal is a document filed in court to begin an appeal. In Singapore, the deadline to file is within a month of the ruling, which was released as a written judgement on Sept 23.

The Lees had in August 2006 sued the Feer publisher, Review Publishing, and its editor Hugo Restall, for defaming them in an article headlined Singapore's 'Martyr' Chee Soon Juan.

The Hong Kong-based journal argued in its defence that the piece by Mr Restall was based on fact and fair comment, and that it concerned matters of public interest.

But the judgment by Justice Woo Bih Li said Feer's defences failed or did not apply in Singapore.

He said there was no doubt that the defamatory words in the article referred to the two leaders.

The Lees have been awarded damages, which will be assessed at a later date.

Their legal team is led by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh of Drew & Napier.

Review Publishing and Mr Restall are represented by Mr Peter Low of Colin Ng & Partners.