Prominent blogger Leong Sze Hian revealed today that he has applied to strike out PM Lee’s original defamation claim against him on the basis that it is “scandalous, frivolous and vexatious; and/or may prejudice, embarrass or delay the fair trial of the action; and/or is an abuse of the process of the Court”.
Earlier, PM Lee commenced legal proceedings against Leong for defamation after the latter shared an article on his Facebook page that alleged that the head of government helped launder 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds.
Leong, who initially said that he was “bewildered” by PM Lee’s actions, later said that he is fighting the claims against him in court and also filed a counterclaim against PM Lee for “abusing the process of the court in bringing the claim against me.”
According to CNA, PM Lee’s lawyer Davinder Singh applied to strike out the counterclaim by Leong earlier, “on the ground that it has no basis in law and is completely hopeless”.
Both sides will return for another pre-trial conference on 31 Jan, before a judge hears both applications to strike out the other’s claims on 25 Feb.
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