Singapore’s Minister for Law and Home Affairs, K Shanmugam, along with Minister for Manpower, Tan See Leng, have initiated defamation lawsuits against Bloomberg News and one of its journalists, as indicated by a court hearing schedule.
In December, both ministers had signaled their intention to pursue legal action, asserting that a Bloomberg article regarding Singapore’s real estate, which referenced them, was defamatory.
Bloomberg refrained from commenting on the lawsuits on Wednesday. The cases are set to be heard in the Supreme Court on March 3.
In December, the Singaporean government mandated that Bloomberg issue a “correction direction” concerning the report, in accordance with the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act.
The media outlet complied, revising the original article to include a notice stating that the correction direction was published “under threat of sanction,” while maintaining its stance on the accuracy of the reporting.
Prominent members of the ruling People’s Action Party, including former Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong, have successfully pursued defamation lawsuits against both media entities and political adversaries.
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Shanmugam and Tan are represented by lawyer Davinder Singh, a former member of the ruling party who has previously represented former prime ministers in defamation cases.
Singh has not yet responded to an email inquiry for comment.
