Singapore’s highest court has upheld a ruling that the Far Eastern Economic Review, a Dow Jones & Co. publication, defamed two of the country’s rulers.
A story in The Wall Street Journal states, “The appeals-court panel on Wednesday agreed with a ruling last year that a 2006 Far Eastern Economic Review story improperly tied Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, the former prime minister, to corruption. The court also found the Review improperly suggested the Lees used libel lawsuits to cover up misdeeds.
“The Lees sued over the article, about Chee Soon Juan, an opposition party leader and a frequent critic of the Lees. The lawsuits were brought against the Review’s publisher and against its editor, Hugo Restall. Potential damages will be decided later.
“The Review is published by News Corp.’s Dow Jones & Co., which also publishes The Wall Street Journal. News Corp. acquired Dow Jones in late 2007.
“A Dow Jones spokesman declined to comment on the ruling. Mr. Restall, through the spokesman, also declined to comment”
Read more here. The Review is slated to close in December.
