Ngerng to testify at hearing to assess damages

SINGAPORE – Blogger Roy Ngerng – who is found to have defamed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong - is prepared to give evidence and be cross-examined during a hearing to assess damages, his lawyer M Ravi confirmed today (Jan 14).

The High Court had earlier asked Mr Ravi to inform them and Mr Lee’s lawyer, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh of Drew & Napier, by Jan 30 whether  Ngerng would be giving evidence at such a hearing.

In response to TODAY’S queries, Mr Ravi said he will be writing to the High Court to inform them of the latest development.

Ngerng, 34, is found to have defamed Mr Lee, 62, in a blog post in May last year, alleging misappropriation of money paid by Singaporeans into the Central Provident Fund. 

At a closed-door hearing on Monday, High Court judge Lee Seiu Kin ordered Ngerng to pay S$29,000 to Mr Lee in costs and related expenses for the lawsuit up until Mr Lee’s application last July for a summary judgement of the case. Assessment of damages to be paid  will be heard at a later date.

Following the hearing, Mr Lee’s press secretary, Ms Chang Li-Lin, told the media that Mr Ravi had indicated that Ngerng did not want to be cross-examined. 

Her remarks sparked a war of words with Mr Ravi, and saw Ms Chang reproducing notes from Monday’s hearing taken by Mr Lee’s lawyers.

In his latest comments yesterday, Mr Ravi noted that the notes seem to be “accurate, precise and complete as far as they go”. But he maintained that the notes do not state that he had indicated that Ngerng did not want to be cross-examined. 

According to the notes, Mr Lee’s lawyer, Mr Singh, had said he would cross-examine Ngerng if he chose to file an Affidavit of Evidence-in-Chief (AEIC) –  a sworn statement giving evidence to support one’s case.

Referring to this, Mr Ravi said he had “moved swiftly” at this point to protect Ngerng’s right to have the final say on whether to give an AEIC and be cross-examined.

“I felt this was necessary given the sudden display of fervour of my learned opponent to engage in (cross-examining) my client, and an advocate knows his client’s instructions are paramount,” Mr Ravi added.

In response, Ms Chang said yesterday that Mr Ravi’s latest statement  was the “clearest admission” of the lawyer’s indication to the court on Monday that Ngerng did not want to be cross-examined. 

“As the notes show, had the learned Judge not thereafter asked Mr Ravi to consider the matter, Mr Ngerng’s position would have remained that he did not want to give evidence and be cross-examined,” she said in a media statement. 

“Despite what Mr Ravi said in court, he has now publicly confirmed that Mr Ngerng is prepared to give evidence and to be cross-examined at the hearing to assess damages. The Prime Minister looks forward to that,” Ms Chang added.