Chee, head of the Singapore Democratic Party, faces financial ruin and permanent exclusion from parliament after the High Court found him liable for damages and legal costs in lawsuits brought by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

"The court basically gave its decision, which is to say that it entered judgment, with damages and aggravated damages to be assessed against Dr Chee," Goh and Lee's lawyer Hri Kumar told reporters after the closed-door hearing on Monday.

Goh and Lee sued Chee over his suggestion in the run-up to last November's general election that the government had lent S$17 billion ($9.7 billion) to former Indonesian president Suharto.

Goh and Lee deny the loan was ever made to Suharto and say Chee's comments were understood to mean they were "dishonest and unfit for office" because they had misled the public.

Chee, who failed in his bid to be elected to parliament, followed Goh on the campaign trail shouting "Where's the money?" through a loudhailer.

The court will assess damages at a later date but Chee had said earlier the total sum could hit S$1 million (US$574,500).

"I'll be bankrupted and as a bankrupt then I am not able to stand for elections," he told reporters last week.

Lawyers for Goh and Lee argued at a closed-door hearing last week that Chee had gone back on an agreement to pay damages and costs after apologising publicly.

Chee, who represented himself after his requests for foreign lawyers were turned down, claimed his apology "was made under duress and intimidation" and wanted the case to go to trial.

"The court found Dr Chee's defence of duress to be entirely misconceived," Kumar said.

"It found that Dr Chee's allegation's of duress and intimidation were hopelessly flawed and manifestly untenable and the court accepted our submissions before it as to the sequence of events."

Chee said on Monday he was considering an appeal.

NOT THE FIRST

The two leader's civil suits put Chee in the company of several opposition politicians sued by members of the long-ruling People's Action Party, often for hefty damages.

"It's just a matter of how you want to pursue political change in Singapore," Chee said on Monday. "I'm not the first one to be bankrupted. I'm going to stay and fight."

Critics have slammed the various lawsuits as a tactic to curb political activity and free speech. Ruling party officials say they resort to the courts only to defend their reputations.

Chee, a free speech proponent and former university lecturer, has already lost his right to contest the next general election after being fined for speaking in public without a permit.

Veteran opposition politician J.B. Jeyaretnam was bankrupted last year after defaulting on an instalment from a defamation judgment involving some ruling party members.

The People's Action party, first under Lee and now under Goh, has kept a lock on parliament since Singapore's independence in 1965. It won 82 of 84 seats last November and has never lost more than four seats in any election.

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