The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today ordered Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd, the publisher of Umno-owned newspaper Utusan Malaysia, to pay RM200,000 plus interest to former parliamentary opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Judge Hue Siew Kheng also rejected the move by Utusan's lawyer, Firoz Hussein Ahmad, who tried to bring up Anwar’s sodomy conviction in his argument.
Anwar's lawyer N Surendran said the ruling showed was proof that the Umno-owned newspaper was not practising responsible journalism.
"This vindication proves that Datuk Seri Anwar has been slandered by Utusan Malaysia, which is known by all to be owned by Umno.
"They still repeat such cases and we hope this will be a clear lesson for them. This is not the way of running a responsible newspaper," Surendran (photo) told reporters outside the court.
Anwar won his suit against Utusan and its chief editor Abdul Aziz Ishak in 2013, following the daily's publication, citing his interview with the BBC in 2012, that he supported lesbians, gays, transexuals and bisexuals.
Justice VT Singham, who delivered the decision before his retirement, took the daily to task for failing to practise responsible journalism.
[More to follow]
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