Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister of Singapore, argued Monday that a local journalist should pay him aggravated damages for defaming him. The journalist, Rubaashini Shunmuganathan, did not appear at the virtual damages assessment hearing on Monday.

Shunmuganathan was found liable for defamation in default of appearance in late 2019. She works for The Online Citizen, the country’s oldest independent online media site. The article in question included comments made by Lee’s brother about a family property dispute wherein Lee allegedly “misled” his father and former Prime Minister of Singapore into bequeathing him the family home upon his death.

Lee alleged that Shunmuganathan and her editor, who he also sued in another defamation action, had not undertaken appropriate fact-checking before the article went live. He alleged:

She wrote the article in a matter of hours, not caring whether the allegations in the offending words were true or false. These matters show that the defendant was completely reckless and malicious. The article contained sensational allegations against me, the Prime Minister of Singapore, which were likely to attract a great deal of attention and go viral on the Internet and on social networking sites. The article was plainly designed to attract the maximum readership among Singaporeans because of its attacks against me and my honesty and integrity.

Singapore has restrictive laws on publishing online content. The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act of 2019 can require publishers to print corrections of matters deemed by the government to be untrue. The government can also order the removal of content from social media sites. The country does not provide for the right to freedom of expression as it has neither signed nor ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights enshrining such a right in Article 19.