Guan Eng sues Utusan over anti-Malay claims
By Adib Zalkapli, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 — Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng filed a suit against Utusan Malaysia’s publisher today over an article accusing the DAP secretary-general of being anti-Malay.
Lim described the December 20 article, titled “Kebiadaban Guan Eng (The Rudeness of Guan Eng)”, as libellous and having caused damage to his reputation.
He is seeking general, aggravated and exemplary damages, with the amount to be decided by the court.
In the article published a day after Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) second annual convention, Utusan Malaysia editor Zulkiflee Bakar claimed that Lim had banned a Maulidur Rasul procession, prevented Malay traders from participating in the Ramadan bazaar in Komtar, and demolished various villages.
The article cited Lim’s speech at the convention to show that the first term chief minister was racist.
The Umno-owned daily also alleged that Lim used gambling revenue to fund compassionate payments to senior citizens, some of whom were Muslims.
“The defendant did not verify the information or the source of information and had caused the said words to be published,” said the writ of summons filed by Lim through his lawyer Karpal Singh.
“The defendant had acted hastily without taking into account the plaintiff’s feelings,” it added.
On December 22, Lim had sent a letter of demand asking the daily to withdraw the article and publish an apology, but Utusan had failed to respond.
Lim had also denied all allegations made by the paper.
