SINGAPORE - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong arrived in court on Monday (Nov 30) to testify in his defamation suit against The Online Citizen (TOC) editor Terry Xu.
Mr Xu's lawyer Lim Tean began his cross-examination of PM Lee.
Prime Minister's siblings, Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang, will not take the witness stand to testify during the week-long hearing, after Mr Lim confirmed that any third-party involvement would be discontinued.
Mr Xu had applied last October to bring PM Lee's siblings into the suit as third parties, with the intention of having them bear damages if he was found to have defamed PM Lee.
He said the TOC article merely quoted directly from public comments made by Dr Lee and Mr Lee Hsien Yang, and that they would know if the allegations were true.
The case revolves around claims made by TOC in an article published on Aug 15 last year, titled "PM Lee's wife, Ho Ching weirdly shares article on cutting ties with family members".
The TOC article had commented on how PM Lee's wife, Ms Ho Ching, had shared a link on Facebook to an article titled "Here's why sometimes it is okay to cut ties with toxic family members".
It also referenced a Facebook post that Dr Lee made in May. Mr Lee Hsien Yang had also shared the post by Dr Lee.
In September last year, PM Lee asked TOC to remove the article, along with a Facebook post linking to it, and publish a full and unconditional apology.
His press secretary Chang Li Lin said the allegations in the article and post were libellous and repeated several false allegations against PM Lee that were previously made by his sister.
One such allegation was that PM Lee had misled his father, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, into thinking that his 38 Oxley Road property had been gazetted by the Singapore Government, and that it was futile for the founding prime minister to keep his direction to demolish it.
Another allegation was that Mr Lee Kuan Yew removed PM Lee as an executor and trustee of his will after it was revealed to him in late 2013 that the 38 Oxley Road property had in fact not been gazetted.
PM Lee later initiated legal proceedings against Mr Xu when the latter refused to take the article and post down or apologise. He also filed a suit against the Malaysian author of the article, one Rubaashini Shunmuganathan.
His lawyers said the article had gravely injured PM Lee's character and reputation and that PM Lee had been "brought into public scandal, odium and contempt".
The case could see PM Lee taking the witness stand to testify in court, Ms Chang said in September.
She noted that although PM Lee had chosen not to sue his siblings as it would further besmirch his parents' names, this did not mean he would not ever take legal action should it become necessary.
In October last year, Mr Xu applied to bring PM Lee's siblings into the suit as third parties. He said he wanted them to bear the damages if he was found to have defamed PM Lee in the TOC article.
He said the TOC article merely quoted directly from public comments made by Mr Lee and Dr Lee and that they would have knowledge of particulars relating to the truth of the allegations.
"The Defendant reserves the right to cross-exam LWL and LHY to provide more information," Mr Xu said in his defence document, referring to Dr Lee and Mr Lee by their initials.
