Singaporean blogger Roy Ngerng sealed a deal with the legal team of Prime Minster Lee Hsien Loog that allows him to pay off the damages in a defamation lawsuit over the next 17 years.
Ngerng's lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam said the agreement reached on Monday stipulates that the blogger will pay S$100 a month for five years, followed by S$1,000 a month until he pays the damages in full.
The blogger does not have to pay the interests if he makes each payment on time, the lawyer told TODAY.
"In the event that he breaches the terms of the agreement (i.e fails to make any one of the payments), the full amount outstanding plus Court Judgment interest will be immediately payable," the lawyer told the daily.
Under the terms of the deal, Ngerng will take 17 years to pay off the damages, awarded to the prime minister by the High Court in December.
The court had found Ngerng guilty of defaming Lee by alleging that the prime minister misappropriated Central Provident Fund monies. The court orderd Ngerng to pay Lee S$150,000 besides the legal costs.
Thuraisingam said Ngerng has to pay S$30,000 in legal costs by Wednesday, while he gets more time to pay off the damages.
The prime minister's press secretary, Chang Li Lin, confirmed the deal saying Ngerng had requested to be let off by paying the legal costs.
"The PM had responded to say that (Mr Ngerng) had to discharge his entire debt, but that he was prepared to give (him) time to pay the S$150,000 by instalments, provided (he) paid the costs immediately," Chang said.
