Malaysiakini editors served with writ

KUALA LUMPUR: ONLINE news portal operator Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd and its two top editors were yesterday served with a writ of summons linked to a suit by Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the party.

ONLINE news portal operator Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd and its two top editors were yesterday served with a writ of summons linked to a suit by Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the party.

  The writ, filed at the High Court Registry here last Friday by law firm Messrs Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak, named MKini Dotcom, which owns online news portal Malaysiakini, and its editor-in-chief and chief editor Steven Gan and Fathi Aris Omar, respectively as defendants.

 According to the statement of claim, Najib who is prime minister and the party, represented by its executive secretary, Datuk Ab Rauf Yusoh, alleged that the publication of Malaysiakini readers' comments on May 14, under the Yoursay segments titled "A case of the PM reaping what he sows" and "How much will Najib spend to keep Terengganu", ruined their reputations.

 The "A case of the PM reaping what he sows" comment was in response to the Malaysiakini article "PM besieged by three political headaches" while "How much will Najib spend to keep Terengganu" comment was in response to the news portal's article "Umno lawyer: T'ganu trio still BN reps".

 The plaintiffs claimed that the comments were unsupported, malicious allegations and implied, among others, that they lacked integrity, were racial in nature, immoral, practised and encouraged corruption among party members, undemocratic and disregarded citizens' wellbeing.

 Najib and the party alleged that the publications caused tension between them and the people, which would negatively affect their reputation for years to come.

 They claimed that their credibility would also come into question in Malaysia and on the international stage. Najib and the party claimed that they sent a notice dated May 15 to the defendants demanding, among others, that they issue a written apology and retract the defamatory articles.

 Mkini Dotcom, Gan and Fathi Aris, via a letter on May 16, replied that the publication was fair comment in the public interest, and offered to grant Najib and the party opportunity to respond to the articles.

 Najib and the party spurned the offer, in a letter dated May 28, saying that the defendants had failed to debunk the empty allegations and "purge the defamation" in the articles.

 They seek, among others, unspecified amount of general, special, aggravated and exemplary damages, and five per cent interest on the damages from the date of filing until completion.

 They also seek an injunction to restrain the defendants and their representatives from further discussing and publishing the alleged defamatory articles, whether orally, via print or online.

 They also seek a court order to compel the defendants to publish a written apology in newspapers or magazines to be determined by them, costs and any other order deemed fit by the court.

 According to an email by  law firm Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak, the suit is fixed for case management before High Court judicial commissioner S.M. Komathy Suppiah on June 18. -NST