Singapore leader accused of lying

SINGAPORE, Aug. 19 (AP): Breaking custom, a British lawyer accused Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong today of lying on the witness stand and challenged his assertions that Singapore is a democracy.

Such accusations are startling in Singapore, where members of the People's Action Party -- in power for 38 years -- routinely win multi-million dollar defamation awards against political opponents, and have some opposition candidates imprisoned without charge.

Government-controlled television did not mention that the lawyer, George Carman, questioned of Prime Minister's truthfulness, but did report the accusation that the governing party members were using the courts as a weapon to try to drive one of three opposition members from the 84-seat parliament.

If the defendant, the leader of the Workers Party, J.B. Jeyaretnam, is convicted of defamation and assessed the "substantial damages" Mr Goh requests, he could be bankrupted, and made ineligible to remain in Parliament. Mr Goh is among 11 governing party leaders who sued Mr Jeyaretnam over a factual statement at a rally..