The Lees filed the application in the Singapore High Court Monday, asking for a ruling without the parties going to trial, their lawyers said.

The Lees are taking on Chee Soon Juan and his sister, Chee Siok Chin, both high-ranking members of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party, or SDP. They claim the Chees published libelous remarks in their party newsletter.

A week ago, the Chees filed an application to have their defamation lawsuit heard in an open court, citing the importance of having the "truth ascertained in a public and transparent manner."

The hearings for both applications will be on August 3.

The Lees filed the defamation suit in April after the Chees refused to apologize for alleging in an SDP newsletter that the ruling People's Action Party was linked to a scandal at Singapore's National Kidney Foundation.

In early June, the Lees won a defamation suit against the SDP because the party failed to file a defense. Six other SDP members whom the Lees sued have apologized to avoid potentially ruinous lawsuits.

Ruling party leaders have successfully sued several opposition politicians - including Chee Soon Juan - and journalists for defamation over the years. They say they sue to protect their reputations.

But domestic and international critics - including the US State Department and London-based rights group Amnesty International - have accused Singapore's rulers of using defamation lawsuits to stifle opponents.

Singapore authorities tightly restrict media and political speech, which they say has helped turn the city-state into one of the region's economic powerhouses.

Lee Kuan Yew, the founder of modern Singapore, ran the city-state from 1965 to 1990. His son took over in 2004 from Goh Chok Tong.

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