TV3 admits tweaked Nizar’s ‘WWW 1’ tweet to refer to public funds

Nizar said he had made no such allegation in his message on Twitter. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 ― Broadcaster TV3 had paraphrased Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin’s tweet on the Sultan of Johor’s winning bid for “WWW 1” registration number to suggest the ruler used public funds, the High Court heard today.

The former Perak mentri besar testified last January that he had never accused the Johor ruler of using public funds for the RM520,000 bid.

“We decided to paraphrase the statement to say that he was referring to public funds,” Datuk Mohd Ashraf Abdullah, who is the deputy group managing editor of television and radio networks of Media Prima Berhad, said at the High Court here today.

“Any reasonable person reading the tweets would come to the conclusion,” he added.

Ashraf said that Nizar would have written a private letter to the Sultan of Johor if the PAS politician had thought that the ruler was using his own money, instead of publishing his remarks publicly on social media site, Twitter.

The senior broadcast editor also said that Johor’s Tengku Mahkota Tunku Ismail Idris had tweeted a response to Nizar.

“His Royal Highness the crown prince’s tweet, last line — ‘So before you open your mouth, do your research’. Obviously he’s referring to a person,” said Ashraf.

“Subsequent to our news bulletin, His Royal Highness the crown prince did not issue a statement or call us to deny that the tweet was a reference to what the plaintiff has tweeted earlier,” he added.

When TV3’s lawyer Liew Teck Huat asked why TV3 did not show Nizar’s tweet in the Buletin Utama segment last May 30, Ashraf noted that some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had protested against Nizar’s tweet.

“So we made the decision that this tweet should not be put on air, because it’ll aggravate the situation further,” said Ashraf.

Nizar has filed a RM50 million defamation suit against Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Berhad (TV3) and TV3 producer Rohani Ngah for its May 30, 2012 news report that allegedly could have been interpreted a number of ways, including that he had committed sedition, was a traitor to the Sultan of Johor and had incited the people to hate the Johor ruler.

Ashraf insisted today that TV3 gave airtime to Pakatan Rakyat (PR), citing the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal that led to a minister’s resignation as an example.

“It’s utterly ridiculous to suggest we’re not critical of the government,” he said.

The media executive pointed out that TV3 had aired Nizar’s apology and denial that the latter’s tweets were seditious.

The hearing continues before Justice Datin Yeoh Wee Siam in the afternoon with Rohani on the witness stand.