S'pore govt lawyers say FEER libel defence frivolous

SINGAPORE, Aug 29 (Reuters) The Far Eastern Economic Review's defence statement in a Singapore libel suit brought against it by two of the city-state's top leaders is ''frivolous'', the leaders' lawyers said.

Court documents showed today that the lawyers for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and former premier Lee Kuan Yew have dismissed the defence statement by the Hong Kong-based magazine as ''frivolous, vexatious, scandalous, and an abuse of the process of the court''.

The Lees sued the magazine, owned by Dow Jones&Co , and its editor Hugo Restall in August last year over an article on prominent Singapore opposition politician Chee Soon Juan.

The Lees' lawyers were responding to the magazine's defence statement filed two weeks ago. According to the local Straits Times newspaper, the lawyers reserved the right to seek summary judgement, which if granted means the court will give its ruling without going to trial.

The magazine had argued that the article did not defame the prime minister and his father because it was based on facts and fair comment.

It also argued that the topics addressed in the article were of public interest, and that Chee had qualified privilege to comment on them.

The article that sparked the lawsuit, entitled ''Singapore's Martyr: Chee Soon Juan'', criticised the government's handling of a pay-and-perks scandal at the country's largest charity. The magazine also quoted Chee attacking the Lees.

The lawyers said in the court document that the magazine and Restall had worked together with Chee to ''run down'' the Lees.

They said the article had defamed the leaders by suggesting that they are corrupt and unfit for office, and would sue and suppress those who question them because this would expose corruption.

Singapore leaders have sued and won damages in the past from foreign media groups when they report on local politics, including the Economist, the International Herald Tribune and Bloomberg, as well as the Far Eastern Economic Review when it was published as a weekly news magazine.

The leaders in the Southeast Asian city-state say the lawsuits are necessary to protect their reputations.

REUTERS SS VC1502