March 9 hearing of bid to quash LFL’s suit against Singapore minister

 

The Federal Court has adjourned to March 9 the hearing of a leave application by the government to strike out Lawyers for Liberty’s (LFL) lawsuit against Singapore Home Minister K Shanmugam.

The apex court also postponed to the same date to hear the government’s appeal leave application to nullify LFL’s other legal action targeting Singapore’s attempt to enforce its anti-fake news law against the group.

A three-person bench chaired by Hasnah Mohammed Hashim set the new hearing date during online apex court proceedings this morning.

As fellow panel members Mary Lim Thiam Suan and Rhodzariah Bujang looked on, Hasnah told legal representatives for the Malaysian government and LFL that it needed to look at the full grounds of the Court of Appeal.

“We need the grounds of judgement in the matter,” Hasnah informed senior federal counsel Liew Horng Bin and lawyer Gurdial Singh Nijar, who are acting for the government and LFL respectively.

Horng also appeared for the attorney-general, while LFL was also represented by counsel Latheefa Koya, Abraham Au, and Shahid Adli Kamaruddin.

The grounds relate to the Court of Appeal’s decision on July 20 last year that allowed LFL’s appeal to reinstate the group’s two civil actions.

The Court of Appeal ruling overturned the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision in 2021 to strike out the human rights group’s suits against Shanmugam (above).

In the event that the apex court grants leave, it would then fix a separate date to hear oral submissions on the merits of the appeal involving the two suits.

‘False statements of fact’

LFL is suing Shanmugam over the Singapore government’s issuance of a “correction direction” against the group over its allegation on the island republic’s treatment of prisoners.

The “correction direction” was issued under Singapore’s Protection From Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019 (Pofma).

LFL’s second suit seeks to restrain the Malaysian government from assisting Singapore to enforce Pofma against it.

Singapore’s issuance of a “correction direction” under Pofma came after the group published details of Malaysian prisoners being executed in a purportedly brutal and unlawful fashion at Changi Prison on Jan 16, 2020.

A “correction direction” is issued by the Singapore government to an offending party to make a correction notice for publications deemed false or erroneous and to also provide access to the correct facts.

In a 2020 statement on its official portal, the Singapore government claimed that LFL’s allegations contained “false statements of fact”.

Singapore’s Home Ministry had called the claims “untrue, baseless, and preposterous allegations”, adding that all judicial executions in the state were carried out in strict compliance with the law.

It instructed the Pofma office to issue a “correction direction” against LFL’s statement on its website. - Mkini