PETALING JAYA, 16 Jan: The Umno-controlled publication, Utusan Malaysia, should receive appropriate punishment because the newspaper continues to throw all sorts of lies about Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders, especially the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de facto leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar said that the daily newspaper takes this attitude to protect the political interests of Umno-BN and thus, ensures the survival of the party without taking into account the question of dignity, moral and ethical journalism which should be preserved.
“It has been long proven that Utusan is a defaming media, they continue to defame and they should be punished because it is their job to continuously defame,” said Anwar when met by Selangor Kini after attending a press conference at the PKR Headquarters today.
Elaborating on his victory in the RM50 million suit against Utusan, Anwar urged for media practitioners in the country to adopt healthy journalistic ethics by reporting the real issue and rejecting defamation politics to bring down any political enemies.
Yesterday, the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya upheld the High Court’s decision ruling that the two articles, published Utusan Malaysia (M) Sdn Bhd, attempted to give the impression that Anwar was unfit to hold position and had different opinions from the teachings of Islam
Utusan Malaysia, a newspaper spreading Umno’s propaganda, lost in court, not for the first time, in the trial involving defamation.
Apart from Anwar, who won the second time in a defamation suit against Utusan, Utusan also lost in a defamation suit against the Member of Parliament for Bukit Gantang, Datuk Seri Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin; the Member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor, Karpal Singh; the Member of Parliament for Shah Alam, Khalid Samad and the Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng.
In addition, Utusan also had to make a peace settlement with the PAS Vice-President, Datuk Husam Musa, by agreeing t withdraw the defamation and pay RM40,000 in costs to Husam to avoid incurring higher compensation.
Utusan also settled out of court on the defamation suit filed by the Member of Parliament of Seputeh, Teresa Kok, against the newspaper.
At the moment, Utusan still has defamation cases waiting to be tried in court, including two defamation suits filed by the Member of Parliament for Gelang Patah, Lim Kit Siang.
