Nurul Izzah-Utusan defamation case settled out of court

(Malay Mail Online) – The defamation suit filed by Lembah Pantai Member of Parliament Nurul Izzah Anwar against Utusan Group editor-in-chief Datuk Abdul Aziz Ishak and Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Berhad concerning her statement on religious freedom for Malays, was solved today after the two parties reached the out-of-court settlement.

High Court Judge Datuk Hue Siew Kheng recorded her consent judgment in chambers in the presence of Abdul Aziz’s counsel Wan Azmir Wan Majid and Nurul Izzah’s lawyer Azhana Mohd Khairuddin.

Speaking to reporters later, Wan Azmir said both the plaintiff and defendants agreed to solve the case without admission of liability.

“Both parties also agreed to solve the case outside of court based on the terms agreed by each other,” he said.

Nurul Izzah and Abdul Aziz were not present during the proceeding.

Prior to this, the court suggested that the case be solved in mediation

before High Court Judge Datuk Hasnah Mohamed Hashim on July 3, but the two parties failed to reach an agreement.

On November 23, 2012, Nurul Izzah filed a suit against Abdul Aziz and Utusan as the first and second defendants for distorting her statement in a forum on religious freedom for Malays.

According to her statement of claims, Nurul Izzah who is PKR vice-president, alleged that four articles containing defamatory words against her were published in Utusan Malaysia on November 5 and 7 in 2012.

She also sought an order for the two defendants to apologise and withdraw the defamations against her in 24 hours from the date of the order apart from seeking against general damages, exemplary damages and extreme damages and cost deemed fit by the court.