In a Twitter post, the rights group said the suit against the Singapore government, represented by its home affairs minister K Shanmugam, was reinstated by a three-member panel, paving the way for the suit to be heard in Malaysia.

LFL’s suit, filed on January 24, 2020, was in response to the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) “correction direction” issued by the Singapore government.

According to The Edge Markets, a three-member panel led by Yaacob Md Sam, found the case should not be struck out as it had merits. Yaacob was joined by Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera and Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

The appellate court also ordered the High Court to hear another LFL suit filed against the Malaysian government, seeking to prevent it from assisting the Singapore government in the matter, concluding that both cases should be given “mature consideration”.

The rights group said the “correction direction” was issued over claims that LFL had published regarding the treatment of prisoners at Changi Prison, who were allegedly being executed in a “brutal and unlawful” manner.

According to a Malaysiakini report, a 2020 statement issued by the Singapore government on its official portal claimed that LFL’s allegations contained “false statements of fact”.

Singapore’s home affairs ministry also called the allegation “untrue, baseless and preposterous”, adding that all judicial executions in the state were carried out in strict compliance with the law.