Jurists accuse courts of bowing to govt

The respected Geneva-based body said Monday's High Court ruling against Workers' Party (WP) leader Joshua Jeyeretnam, who was ordered to pay S$20,000 (HK$101,000) in damages, was ``unduly harsh'' because he would have to pay the same to 10 other litigants.

The decision ``has done little to overcome the courts' reputation as improperly compliant to the interests of the country's ruling People's Action Party (PAP),'' the ICJ said.

Justice S Rajendran ruled that Mr Jeyeretnam, 71, had defamed Mr Goh by telling a political rally that a Workers' Party colleague, accused of being an ``anti-Christian, Chinese chauvinist'' by the PAP, had filed a police report against Mr Goh.

He said the remark gave a ``broad negative impression'' because it suggested Mr Goh may have done something wrong, and was defamation by innuendo because the audience would have known the contents of the police report. Although Goh prevailed in the libel case, the damages were a tenth of what he asked for.

The jurists said that their observer at the trial, Stuart Littlemore, QC, believed the judge gave special treatment to Mr Goh.

It had been ``somewhat startling'' to see Goh served with refreshments in the witness box under cross-examination while none was provided to Jeyeretnam, the ICJ observer said. - Reuter