Utusan & defamation

It appears that Utusan Malaysia has landed itself quite a number of legal problems this year. Karpal Singh has filed a defamation law suit against Utusan in late September. Karpal is pursuing legal redress notwithstanding the newspaper’s apology. Karpal was reported to have said:

An apology is only mitigating (the damages). In fact, they already admitted that it was defamation. There is no point killing and apologising later

The law suit is in relation to an article in August which purportedly stated that Karpal Singh, an opposition leader, was against Islam as the official religion in his opening speech at the 15th DAP Congress on Aug 24.

Meanwhile, another opposition MP, Teresa Kok, who unfortunately was detained without trial under the Internal Security Act (ISA), also intends to sue Utusan for a piece they did, which appears to have caused her detention. According to a press statement she made after her release under ISA:

As I have mentioned in my previous lawyer’s visit, I will sue Utusan Malaysia, Zaini and Khir Toyo. I have also instructed my lawyers to sue the Malaysian government for my unlawful arrest and detention.

Utusan Malaysia is said to be owned by UMNO, the leading party in the ruling coalition. UMNO is known be facing troubled times of late, which might explain why Utusan appears to be trying to get the public to view the opposition in a bad light.

Now, it has been reported that Utusan might be facing another law suit, this time from the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf). According to Malaysiakini:

[National coordinator RS Thanenthiran] said Utusan front page report yesterday under the headline – ‘Hindraf Keterlaluan’ (Extreme Hindraf) was unfair and communal, and seems to suggest that the movement was made of extremists out to disrupt Muslim festivals and pour scorn on Islam.

Criticising another article – Baharom Mahusin’s commentary in his ‘Cetusan’ column in the same edition, Thanenthiran said the writer was unfair in his criticisms, was also inciting racial hatred and instigating communal conflict.

This is in relation to Hindraf’s presence at the Eid’ul Fitri celebrations held by the Prime Minister and other cabinet ministers at the Putra World Trade Centre recently. On this, Thanenthiran stated:

He reiterated that Hindraf has notified the prime minister’s office of the movement’s intention and purpose to visit his open house during Hari Raya by submitting an official letter to Abdullah’s senior personal assistant Ahmad Yaakob.

It’s disconcerting that one newspaper might have three separate defamation suits filed against it in one year. Even if the law suits are not eventually filed (although Karpal’s has been reported to already have been filed), the fact that the level of journalism on the newspaper warrants legal action is shocking.

In fact, in relation to Teresa Kok, it led to her arrest and detention under the ISA without trial. And to add salt to the wound, the newspaper dared her to take a lie detector test, notwithstanding witnesses who are willing to stand up and support her denials.

In fact, while there has been suspicion on the veracity of online journalism, it appears that many things published by Malaysians on the internet bear greater value than mainstream press. Does daring someone to take a lie detector test create greater assurance on the journalistic quality in the press?

I don’t know…

What do you think? Leave your thoughts and comments.