TOC editor set to represent himself in defamation court case brought on by PM Lee

The Online Citizen editor Terry Xu revealed he will represent himself in the defamation court case brought against him by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

On Sept 1, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) issued a letter to the editor of TOC, demanding an apology and that they remove an article and a Facebook post repeating allegations made by PM Lee’s sister Lee Wei Ling during the Lee family feud in 2017.

The letter put forth PM Lee’s request that TOC immediately removes the article and Facebook post by Sept 4, and publish a “full and unconditional apology” along with an undertaking that it would not publish similar allegations in the future.

The letter warned that “PM Lee will have no choice but to hand the matter over to his lawyers to sue to enforce his full rights in law” if TOC does not comply.

Last Wednesday (Sept 4), Mr Xu issued a response acknowledging PM Lee’s letter of demand and stating he will not comply with the demands set out in PM Lee’s letter.

The very next day (Sept 5), PM Lee’s lawyers served Mr Xu with a writ of summons and a statement of claim at his place of residence, initiating a defamation case against him.

This afternoon (Sept 10), Mr Xu filed a memorandum of appearance with the High Court, in response to the writ of summons and statement of claim filed by PM Lee’s lawyers on his behalf. The memorandum of appearance indicates that Mr Xu will contest the defamation action brought on by the head of government.

Mr Xu is expected to enter his defence for the case within two weeks from yesterday (Sep 10). A pre-trial conference will take place next month, on October 15, 2019 at 9.30am.