Photo: Roy Ngerng and his lawyer M. Ravi walking out of the Supreme Court yesterday after being ordered to pay $29,000 in legal costs to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; AFP / Roslan Rahman
On Tuesday (Jan. 13) morning, the counsel representing CPF blogger Roy Ngerng in a high profile defamation suit involving Singapore Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong, sent a letter to the PM's Press Secretary Ms. Chang Li-Lin.
In the letter also issued to local media amid international reports of Ngerng being asked to pay $29,000 in legal costs to the PM, a representative of M. Ravi's office accused Ms. Chang of being "misinformed" and of issuing an "inaccurate statement".
The statement was, "Mr Ngerng’s lawyer indicated at the hearing that Mr Ngerng did not want to be cross-examined. The judge directed his lawyer to confirm this by 30 January 2015. PM Lee stands ready to be cross-examined, a position he has maintained right from the beginning.”
The representative also asked Ms. Chang, "...can you explain why you as a Civil Servant holding the official title of Press Secretary to the Prime Minister would be issuing press releases on behalf of a private litigant?"
Ms. Chang has sinced published a rebuttal via outlets such as Channel NewsAsia, indicating, "M. Ravi (Mr. Ngerng's lawyer) is wrong, and Mr. Ngerng, who was not present during this part of the hearing, has made yet another baseless allegation."
Ms. Chang points out that while M. Ravi's assertions were based on his "recollection", her statement, which she insists was correct in its entirety, were based on notes taken by PM Lee's lawyer Drew & Napier at the hearing. "From the notes it is clear that Mr. Ravi had informed the Court that Mr. Ngerng would rely on the affidavit filed by him in the earlier summary judgement application as his evidence for the purposes of the assessment of damages," she explains, after revealing the section cited.
Ms. Chang says Mr. Davinder Singh then gave Mr. Ravi notice that if Mr. Ngerng was going to give evidence for the purposes of the assessment of damages, Mr. Singh would be cross-examining the defendant. After that, PM Lee's Prime Secretary noted, Mr. Ravi changed his positioned, informing the Court that the blogger would "therefore" not be filing any evidence.
In the statement issued just this afternoon, Ms. Chang also defended her role in the suit, saying, "(M. Ravi) appears to have forgotten that, as the Court has found, Mr Ngerng falsely alleged that 'the plaintiff, the Prime Minister of Singapore… is guilty of criminal misappropriation of the monies paid by Singaporeans to the CPF'.""It is therefore entirely proper for me to deal with this matter as the Prime Minister's Press Secretary."
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Photo: Roy Ngerng and his lawyer M. Ravi walking out of the Supreme Court yesterday after being ordered to pay $29,000 in legal costs to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; AFP / Roslan Rahman
On Tuesday (Jan. 13) morning, the counsel representing CPF blogger Roy Ngerng in a high profile defamation suit involving Singapore Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong, sent a letter to the PM's Press Secretary Ms. Chang Li-Lin.
In the letter also issued to local media amid international reports of Ngerng being asked to pay $29,000 in legal costs to the PM, a representative of M. Ravi's office accused Ms. Chang of being "misinformed" and of issuing an "inaccurate statement".
The statement was, "Mr Ngerng’s lawyer indicated at the hearing that Mr Ngerng did not want to be cross-examined. The judge directed his lawyer to confirm this by 30 January 2015. PM Lee stands ready to be cross-examined, a position he has maintained right from the beginning.”
The representative also asked Ms. Chang, "...can you explain why you as a Civil Servant holding the official title of Press Secretary to the Prime Minister would be issuing press releases on behalf of a private litigant?"
Ms. Chang has sinced published a rebuttal via outlets such as Channel NewsAsia, indicating, "M. Ravi (Mr. Ngerng's lawyer) is wrong, and Mr. Ngerng, who was not present during this part of the hearing, has made yet another baseless allegation."
Ms. Chang points out that while M. Ravi's assertions were based on his "recollection", her statement, which she insists was correct in its entirety, were based on notes taken by PM Lee's lawyer Drew & Napier at the hearing. "From the notes it is clear that Mr. Ravi had informed the Court that Mr. Ngerng would rely on the affidavit filed by him in the earlier summary judgement application as his evidence for the purposes of the assessment of damages," she explains, after revealing the section cited.
Ms. Chang says Mr. Davinder Singh then gave Mr. Ravi notice that if Mr. Ngerng was going to give evidence for the purposes of the assessment of damages, Mr. Singh would be cross-examining the defendant. After that, PM Lee's Prime Secretary noted, Mr. Ravi changed his positioned, informing the Court that the blogger would "therefore" not be filing any evidence.
In the statement issued just this afternoon, Ms. Chang also defended her role in the suit, saying, "(M. Ravi) appears to have forgotten that, as the Court has found, Mr Ngerng falsely alleged that 'the plaintiff, the Prime Minister of Singapore… is guilty of criminal misappropriation of the monies paid by Singaporeans to the CPF'.""It is therefore entirely proper for me to deal with this matter as the Prime Minister's Press Secretary."
Read Also:
Roy Ngerng fired from job at Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Roy Ngerng successfully raises over $70,000 for legal fees