Lawyer grills Guan Eng on 'provocation' of former Penang BN chief

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng was grilled today on the witness stand, on whether he had "provoked" former Penang BN chief Teng Chang Yeow (photo, left) to defame him.

Lim is suing Teng for defamation over allegations, that he (Lim) had lied over his statements involving the undersea tunnel and roads project, through the New Straits Times and Berita Harian in January last year.

During his five-hour examination today at the Penang High Court, Teng's counsel Kek Boon Wei said to Lim: "I put it to you that you had refused to answer Teng's claims but instead challenged him to say you have lied about the issue".

To this, Lim replied curtly, "I disagree".

On Jan 17 last year, Lim had challenged Teng to unequivocally state that he had lied when he claimed not a single sen was paid to the contractor for the undersea tunnel project.

Lim had said that by doing so, he can prove in court that he (Lim) was telling the truth.

In court today, Kek went on to say that Lim, as the chief minister then, had access to all the state machinery to explain the issue to the public.

"But you refused to answer to Teng's claims but instead provoked him to defame you so you sue him in court, do you agree?" Kek asked.

Again, Lim responded in the negative.

Later, Lim said "yes" when the lawyer reminded him that during the time, both Lim and Teng had issued statements on the undersea tunnel to "attack" one another.

"As CM, you can clarify and sue (someone who has defamed you) but you choose to sue," Kek told Lim.

Lim replied, "I choose to do both".

High Court Judge Rosilah Yop presided over the trial, while Simon Murali represented Lim.

The finance minister's wife Betty, sister and senator Lim Hui Ying, as well as former Penang exco Lim Hock Seng were present in court.

At 5pm, Rosilah ordered Kek to wrap up his examination by 6pm, but the lawyer said he needed a “whole day”.

Simon replied that Lim was unable to attend another full day of examination tomorrow as Parliament is in session. Lim is also Bagan MP.

Rosilah later agreed to postpone the case to May 6 and 7, where Teng will be cross-examined by Lim's lawyer.

On March 13 last year, Lim had accused Teng of allegedly defaming him through three articles published in the New Straits Times and Berita Harian on Jan 17 and Jan 19 last year.

According to Lim, Teng had implied that he had lied about “not paying a single sen” to the undersea tunnel contractor.

Teng, in his press conferences about the issue, claimed that payments had been made to the contractor for the RM6. 3 billion tunnel, which is slated for completion by 2025.

But Lim had insisted that the only payment made was a RM11.2 million fee paid by the Penang government to engineering firm HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd as independent checking engineers (ICE) for the tunnel and roads project.

The trial which started at 10.30am, heard Lim musing over whether two mainstream media that carried Teng's alleged defamatory remarks were part of the Pakatan Harapan government. - Mkini