Umno mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia today was found liable for defaming DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, and ordered to pay him RM250,000 in damages.
High Court judge Datuk Yeoh Wee Siam said Lim, who was also awarded RM25,000 in costs, had proved his case against the defendant on the balance of probability.
In an immediate response to the judgment, Lim said on Twitter: "Hurrah for (lawyer) Gobind Singh Deo for great victory against politics of lies.”
Lim filed the suit in September last year against the publisher Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd for alleging that he had manipulated the vote tabulation during the party’s elections in December 2012 in a report carried in the newspaper that had quoted "Father Augustus Chen".
He said the article implied that Father Augustus Chen existed and that the contents of "The Equity Report (CEC Election Fraud)" on the alleged irregularities and internal politics in the DAP polls were true.
The identity of the author, who used the pseudonym Father Augustus Chen, was never established in court although the judge had given the defendant the opportunity to produce the maker of the booklet.
Lim and DAP adviser Dr Chen Man Hin, as the plaintiff’s witnesses, rebutted the presumption that he was Father Augustus Chen.
He said in his suit that Utusan implied that he was untrustworthy and had achieved his political success in a dubious manner.
Lim, 73, a founder member of the DAP and a current central executive committee member, said the words were false and libellous.
In its defence, Utusan said that it exercised reasonable care in obtaining and verifying information contained in the article published in its weekend edition, Mingguan Malaysia, on August 18, last year.
It said the investigative reporting was prompted by various statements and articles in the media as to the conduct of the DAP elections held on December 2012.
Utusan said it was under a moral or social duty to broadcast the information to the readers
- TMI
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.