Singapore

September 24, 2008

Hugo Restall, Review Publishing, Far Eastern Economic Review
LEGAL ACTION

A High Court judge in Singapore ruled that the Far Eastern Economic Review had defamed Singapore's leaders, according to international news reports. Justice Woo Bih Li decided the case in a summary judgment without trial, dismissing arguments submitted by the magazine's lawyers that the contents of the article constituted fair comment, according to the BBC. Damages will be decided later, and the Review may appeal, the news reports said.

New York, September 19, 2008--A court in Singapore sentenced a blogger to three months in jail on Thursday, one week after the nation's attorney general sought contempt proceedings against The Wall Street Journal Asia. Both actions come in response to critical analysis of Singapore's judiciary in connection with a prominent defamation suit.

New York, June 3, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the detention of blogger Gopalan Nair on charges of insulting a Singaporean judge during a high-profile libel case.

Nair, a former Singapore citizen who obtained U.S. citizenship in 2005, was arrested in a hotel on Saturday evening, according to news reports citing his lawyer. He was visiting his former home to observe proceedings in a libel case filed by Singapore’s founding leader Lee Kuan Yew and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in connection with a 2006 newspaper article, the reports said. Nair is accused of insulting the judge presiding over the trial, a charge which carries a fine of up to 5,000 Singapore dollars (US$3,670) or a one-year jail term, according to Agence France-Presse.