A court-advised mediation today has failed to settle a defamation suit by DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng and two other party heavyweights against PAS lawmaker Siti Mastura Muhammad.
As a result, the Penang High Court is set to proceed with a full trial in September for the civil actions filed by Guan Eng, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, over an allegation that the trio has blood ties with a communist and a former Singapore prime minister.
The court initially proposed mediation for the parties involved to resolve the lawsuits.
When contacted this afternoon, the DAP trio's counsel Sankara Nair confirmed the unsuccessful outcome of the mediation attempt.
The lawyer added that the matter will proceed to trial for nine days in September.
Malaysiakini is attempting to reach Siti Mastura's legal team for a response.
On Nov 27 last year, Guan Eng, Kit Siang and Teresa filed civil actions against the Kepala Batas MP.
The three lawsuits are over the defendant’s speech at a Kemaman by-election campaign event at Dewan Berlian, Majlis Perbandaran Kemaman, on Nov 4.
Siti Mastura claimed that the three DAP leaders were related to Communist Party of Malaya leader Ong Boon Hua, popularly known by his nom de guerre Chin Peng, and Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.
The plaintiffs seek general, compensatory, aggravated and exemplary damages, as well as an injunction to restrain the defendant from further uttering the allegation.
Previously, the media reported Siti Mastura in her statement of defence claiming that her remarks were based on legitimate “facts” contained in a handbook, which she said was a reliable source.
However, in the DAP trio's reply filed in court, the plaintiffs contended that doctorate holder Siti Mastura should have double-checked and not relied on a debunked source over the allegation. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.