Singapore proceeding targets WSJ

A story in Friday’s Wall Street Journal reports that Singapore’s regulators are going after the paper for editorials and a letter to the editor that criticized the country’s judicial system.

The unbylined story stated, “‘We are aware of the statement issued by the Singapore Attorney General’s office regarding the application for contempt proceedings against The Wall Street Journal Asia,’ a Dow Jones spokesman said. ‘While we are reserving comment on the application until we receive official notification, we do not believe the articles were contemptuous of the Singapore courts.’

“The Wall Street Journal Asia is owned by Dow Jones & Co., a subsidiary of News Corp. Another Dow Jones publication, The Far Eastern Economic Review, which is banned in Singapore, is defending defamation charges in Singapore brought by the elder Mr. Lee and his son, the prime minister, in relation to an article concerning Mr. Chee.

“Singapore’s political leaders have previously won damages against several foreign news publications for defamation.”

Read more here.