A Singapore court ordered Bloomberg and its reporter to pay S$290,000 [1] in legal costs to ministers K. Shanmugam and Tan See Leng.
The ruling follows a defamation suit in which the media outlet and its journalist were found to have defamed the two government officials. This decision underscores the strict legal environment regarding defamation and the high financial stakes for international media operating within Singapore.
The total sum of S$290,000 [1] covers a variety of legal expenses incurred throughout the proceedings. According to court records, the payment includes pre-trial costs totaling S$50,000 [2] and post-trial costs of S$30,000 [2].
The court also calculated specific trial costs based on the duration of the proceedings. The judge said a rate of S$10,000 per day was assigned for the trial, which lasted 6.5 days, resulting in a total of S$65,000 [1] for that specific portion of the legal fees.
Bloomberg and the reporter lost the defamation case after the court determined the publication's content was defamatory toward the ministers. The order for the payment of costs is a standard outcome for the losing party in such civil litigation in Singapore.
The case involved both the corporate entity of the publication and the individual journalist responsible for the reporting. The court's decision to hold both parties liable ensures that the legal costs are recovered by the plaintiffs, regardless of the internal structure of the media organization.
“Bloomberg and its reporter were found to have defamed the ministers”
This ruling reinforces the precedent in Singapore that high-ranking government officials can successfully seek legal costs and damages from international media organizations. The granular breakdown of costs—from pre-trial to daily trial rates—serves as a financial warning to foreign publishers regarding the risks of defamation litigation in the city-state's judicial system.
