Blogger Roy Ngerng must remove posts or face aggravated damages

Roy Ngerng Yi Ling speaking during a three-hour protest rally at Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park on June 8, 2013. -- FILE PHOTO: ST
Roy Ngerng Yi Ling speaking during a three-hour protest rally at Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park on June 8, 2013. -- FILE PHOTO: ST

Singapore - Blogger Roy Ngerng was put on notice by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's lawyer on Monday that he is to immediately remove four blog posts and a youtube video or face aggravated damages.

The blogger, who had last Friday apologised to Mr Lee for a May 15 blog post alleging that CPF monies had been misppropriated, had put up two posts - one containing a 14-minute video - after he was served a letter of demand on May 18. The other two posts were uploaded in 2012 and 2013."

These posts show that Mr Ngerng's apology "was not and never meant to be geniuine" and that it had always been his intention to use Mr Lee's "lawful and legitimate demand to opportunistically raise his public profile, garner support and sympathy and renew his attack" against Mr Lee, the prime minister's lawyer Davinder Singh said in the letter on Monday.

These amount to circumstances which further aggravate the distress and injury to Mr Lee and for which he is entitled to aggravated damages, Mr Singh added.

These damages would be in addition to the ones that Mr Lee is demanding for Mr Ngerng's post of May 15, in which he had compared a chart he made setting out relationships between the CPF, Mr Lee and Singapore companies, to a Channel NewsAsia chart about City Harvest Church leaders prosecuted for allegedly misusing church funds.

Mr Ngerng has until 5pm today to send in a written offer of damages and legal costs for that original post.

In the latest letter, Mr Singh said that if Mr Ngerng immediately removed the four other blog posts and youtube video and undertook in writing by 5pm on Monday to not further aggravate the injury and distress to Mr Lee through similar other posts, videos or other means, Mr Lee would, provided that the posts and videos were not republished and the undertaking was honoured, be prepared not to claim any aggravated damages from Mr Ngerng.

"In that event, the offer that your client is required to make by 5pm today need only address the damages arising from the matters in our letter of demand dated 18 May 2014 and in our letter of 23 May 2014," Mr Singh wrote.

However, if Mr Ngerng failed to immediately remove the four posts and video or give that undertaking or, having given it, breached it, he was to factor those aggravating circumstances and those arising from any other similar posts and videos which he published into his calculation of the offer of damages which he is required to make by 5pm today, that is Monday.

Mr Singh added in his letter that Mr Lee reserved all his rights.

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