THE High Court has awarded Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong $500,000 in damages and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew $450,000 in damages in a defamation suit that both won against the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and several of its leaders.

Six of the party leaders and three other central executive committee members had, in 2006, apologised for the libel contained in articles in the party newsletter, The New Democrat, that same year. The Lees each received $170,000 from this group.

But the SDP, its secretary-general Chee Soon Juan and central executive committee member Chee Siok Chin contested the suit. The High Court in 2006 found that they had defamed PM Lee and MM Lee.

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