Fined many times by court, Utusan advises TMI on reporting stories

Utusan Malaysia has been a subject to numerous defamation suits over the years. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 28, 2016.

Despite losing at least six court cases last year for its own reporting, Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia today advised The Malaysian Insider to conduct research before publishing any articles.

Utusan Malaysia editors, writing under the pseudonym Awang Selamat, accused The Malaysian Insider of publishing articles that were seditious, defamatory and harmful to society.

"Do your research first. TMI has published many articles that are seditious, slanderous and disturbs public peace, but it always gets off scot-free," wrote Awang in his column published today in the paper’s weekend edition, Mingguan Malaysia.

The Malay-language daily has over the last year paid dearly for articles it had published defaming top opposition leaders.

Utusan Malaysia was ordered to pay RM200,000 with interest to former opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in October last year, for defaming him in 2012.

A month before that, it was ordered to pay RM300,000 in damages to the former Selangor State Development Corporation general manager, Datuk Othman Omar, for publishing defamatory articles about him three years ago.

In the same month, Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua was awarded RM200,000 in damages from Utusan Malaysia for publishing a defamatory article on him in 2014.

Also in September, the paper had to pay Anwar RM5,000 in costs after the Court of Appeal dismissed its appeal to include his sodomy conviction in its bid to reduce damages payable to the former opposition leader in a defamation suit.

The newspaper on last November also lost its appeal against a High Court finding that ‎it was liable for defaming DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang three years ago, and must pay RM250,000 in damages.

Last April 6, Utusan Malaysia apologised to lawyer Rosli Dahlan for its 2007 news report alleging he had hidden a senior police officer’s assets.

The apology was tendered to settle his RM48 million lawsuit against the broadsheet.

The High Court in March last year also ordered Utusan Malaysia, Perkasa, and New Straits Times and Utusan Melayu to pay Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng RM550,000 in damages as they reported Guan Eng had leaked national secrets to Singapore's ruling People's Action Party.

Meanwhile, Awang said that the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission should have blocked The Malaysian Insider earlier.

He said the news portal would have faced worse repercussions from Singapore if it had been based there.

He added that China provided zero freedom to news organisations, while irresponsible portals from the West would face public scorn and eventually shut down on their own.

He said the block on The Malaysian Insider was a result of ignoring "nation building and hiding behind 'media freedom' to attack the government."

Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak previously said The Malaysian Insider was blocked for publishing an article quoting an unnamed source from the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) Operation Review Panel.

Salleh had said the article, which touched on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, could confuse the public as it contradicted MACC's official statement on the matter.

- TMI