KUALA LUMPUR (July 20): The Court of Appeal has reinstated a suit by Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) against the Singapore government, represented by its Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam, which was previously quashed by the High Court.

The lawsuit was filed by the non-governmental organisation (NGO) on Jan 24, 2020, in response to a Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) direction issued to the outfit by the Singapore government two days earlier.

The lawsuit was subsequently quashed by the High Court here later that year.

However, upon appeal, a Court of Appeal three-member panel overturned the 2020 decision.

The bench, led by Datuk Yaacob Md Sam accompanied by Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera and Datuk Mohd Nazlan Ghazali, found that the case had merits and that it was not “fit and proper for striking out”. The decision means that Shanmugam must now put in an appearance at the Malaysian High Court to defend the suit

The Court of Appeal also ordered that another separate suit be heard at the High Court in relation to this matter.

The judges said a suit brought by LFL against the Malaysian government to restrain it from assisting the Singapore government in this matter must also be heard at the High Court.

They surmised that the suits must be given mature consideration and ordered that the matter be heard before a High Court judge.

According to news reports at that time, the Pofma direction given to LFL had required the NGO to insert a correction notice on top of an article published on its website, which the Ministry of Home Affairs said contained "untrue, baseless and preposterous allegations about judicial executions conducted in Changi Prison".

"Singapore has no business interfering with the freedom of speech of Malaysian citizens making statements within our own country," LFL had said.

LFL was represented by Datuk Gurdial Singh Nijar, Latheefa Koya, Shahid Adli and Abraham Au. Suzana Atan acted as counsel for the government.