British barrister denied chance to grill Lee Kuan Yew in libel case

British barrister George Carman QC, flown in by opposition leader Joshua Jeyaretnam to cross-examine his long-time sparring partner, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, walked away disappointed yesterday having failed to confront his man.

Mr Lee was to have been the first of 11 leaders from the governing People's Action Party to bring defamation cases against Mr Jeyaretnam, 71, in what has been billed as an historic legal confrontation.

Instead, 48 hours before the the case began, the Singapore High Court allowed the order of play to be changed so that, instead of Mr Lee appearing first, he would be the last of the 11 plaintiffs to take the stand.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong would instead kick off, with his case and not Mr Lee's now acting as a test for the 10 which follow.

The hearings, in which Mr Jeyaretnam is accused of propagating a libel by his Workers' Party colleague Tang Liang Hong during December's general election campaign, are expected to last at least 12 days.

Mr Carman pleaded in vain with the judge, Justice S. Rajendran, to bring Mr Lee's case forward, arguing he would not be able to stay in Singapore long enough to cross-examine Mr Lee if he were to go last.

At GBP10,000 (HK$124,200) a day plus other charges, the top libel barrister's services do not come cheap. Mr Jeyaretnam said he would see if Mr Carman would be able to return next week to cross-examine Mr Lee.