Damages for Singapore PM

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong was awarded libel damages yesterday of some $13,000 - a tenth of the penalty Mr Goh had sought against a leader of the feeble political opposition.

Mr Goh and 10 other leaders of the ruling People's Action Party sued Workers' Party leader Joshua Jeyaretnam for libel. The case was regarded as the measure for rulings in the other actions.

Justice S Rajendran also ordered Mr Jeyaretnam to pay 60 per cent of the legal costs of the plaintiffs.

Mr Goh, who had originally sought damages in the region of $130,000, accused Jeyaretnam of libel by innuendo for announcing at a political rally in January that a Workers' Party candidate had filed a police report against the prime minister. AP