Ex-MAS chairman in out-of-court settlement with Malaysian Insider

(The Star) – Former Malaysia Airlines executive chairman Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli confirmed on Wednesday to record settlement with The Malaysian Insider in his defamation suit against the online news portal.

The terms of settlement will be recorded on Friday before the High Court judge Justice Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal.

Tajudin had named the proprietor of The Malaysian Insider Sdn Bhd, The Malaysian Insider chief executive officer/editor Jahabar Sadiq and its reporter Shazwan Mustafa Kamal as defendants in the suit filed on Aug 18.

In his lawsuit, Tajudin claimed the defendants had published defamatory words about him on their website in an article titled “MACC clears A-G of graft allegations” on May 31.

The words in the article meant that MAS lost RM8bil during his tenure as its executive chairman between 1994 and 2001, he said.

In his statement of claim, Tajudin contended that the words also implied that complaints had been lodged against him for the loss and that he was dishonest in his dealings with MAS, saying the words suggested he had abused his position for his own pecuniary advantage and acted unprofessionally.

Alternatively, he said, the words also meant that he had perpetrated a fraud on MAS by making secret profits in transactions involving MAS and was guilty of improper conduct and should be subjected to investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The defendants, he claimed, had replied in a letter dated June 20 that the words were not defamatory and that they had multiple sources to the words, of which some were in public domain.

He had earlier sought general damages of at least RM200mil and other relief deemed fit by the court.