Singapore ― Soh Rui Yong, a local marathoner, was ordered to pay former teammate Ashley Liew S$180,000 in damages for defamation and is now turning to crowdfunding to settle the bill.
On Thursday (Sept 23), the District Court told Soh to pay the sum of S$120,000 in general damages and S$60,000 in aggravated damages towards Liew for the defamation suit, which began two years ago in June 2019.
In a blog post on Wednesday (Sept 29), Soh wrote: “Friends and supporters, I ask you for a favour.
You know me as an athlete, you know me as a friend, you know me as a person. You know that I stand for what’s right, I speak out against lies, and I fight against bullies. Facing greater odds has never intimidated me, be in the competition arena against traditional powerhouses at the SEA Games, or dealing with the bullies and bureaucrats ruining our local sports ecosystem back home. “
He added: “Despite my position that we will be lodging an appeal, Ashley’s lawyers have demanded for the $180,000 to be paid immediately. They are also seeking $100,000 in legal costs for their work done”.
“I’ll be honest and say that I don’t have the money on hand. I need your help”, Soh wrote, asking for help to fund his legal fees.
What Initially Happened
During a race at the 2015 SEA Games, it was reported that Liew, Soh’s teammate then, had slowed down to let other runners catch up before continuing his run. The other runners had allegedly missed a turn during the race and Liew did so to even the playing field.
Liew was then awarded the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy by the International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) for his gesture. Soh claimed that Liew’s slowing down during the marathon was “simply not true.”
The defamation suit included four other statements made by Soh on two blog posts, two Facebook posts and one Facebook comment.
In court, the former colleagues presented four witnesses each.
Before the verdict was announced, Soh took to Facebook to reiterate his unchanging stance on the dispute.
“To this day, I stand by what I said – because it is what I witnessed that day, and I would never testify to anything else. I have absolutely no reason to lie,” wrote Soh.
“Ashley Liew’s reported act of ‘slowing to a crawl’ to wait for his competitors who missed the U-turn did not happen,” he added.
“My account was publicly backed by a number of witnesses in the media, including Filipino marathoner Rafael Poliquit Jr who was in the same race.”
After the verdict was given, Soh took to his blog to note that he and his legal team found several mistakes in the judgement.
Soh highlighted that Liew changed his story from what he said on live television and in court and that there was an error regarding the time it took for the pack to catch up to Liew.
His team plans to appeal against the verdict, said Soh in the post, which has since been taken down. /TISG