A Singaporean blogger being sued for defamation today seized his chance to cross-examine the island state’s prime minister on the first day of hearings to assess the amount of damages.

Roy Ngerng, 34, was found to have defamed Premier Lee Hsien Loong in November, by suggesting in a blog post that Lee had misappropriated money from the state pension fund.

Lee is claiming aggravated damages.

Ngerng represented himself at the hearing and began by apologising to Lee, saying, “I’m glad I can meet you in person for the first time and I do apologise for any defamatory things that I might have said.”

Ngerng sought to establish that there had been no malicious intent in the publication of a post found to have defamed the premier, a key consideration in the assessment of damages.

Lee said Ngerng had aggravated the situation by continuing to publish blog posts denying defamation after the prime minister’s letter sent a letter telling him to desist.

Ngerng’s offer of S$5,000 (US$3,712) in damages was rejected last year after it was deemed “derisory”. A second offer of S$10,000 was rejected in May.

“It was not a sincere offer,” Lee told the court.

Lee’s counsel Davinder Singh accused Ngerng of “taking potshots” at Lee, referring to allegations of persecution as the “grossest form of aggravation”.

Ngerng was first served a letter from Lee’s lawyers in May 2014 after he published a blog post drawing links between the prime minister’s chairpersonship of a sovereign wealth fund and an ongoing court trial involving a megachurch’s alleged misappropriation of funds.

- dpa