KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — The suit filed by Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim against Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed and the government was settled out of court, here yesterday.
Abdul Khalid had sued the two parties for allegedly implying that he had misused his position in his personal capacity and public office. High Court Judge Datuk Hue Siew Kheng recorded the settlement in chambers in the presence of Senior Federal Counsel Zureen Elina Mohd Dom who represented Abu Kassim and the government and Abdul Khalid’s lawyer, K. Muralidharan.
Zureen Elina told reporters that both parties had agreed to settle the matter and the MACC had published an explanation on the alleged video interview on its website. “Therefore, Abdul Khalid discontinued the suit,” said Zureen Elina, adding that the court made no order as to legal costs.
According to the MACC website, the explanation was published on Aug 22, which among others reads that “Penerbitan rakaman video tersebut di dalam laman web rasmi SPRM adalah amat dikesali dan tidak bermaksud untuk menjatuhkan kredibiliti Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim sebagai pemimpin”.
(Uploading the video recording on the MACC official web portal was deeply regretted and it was not meant to tarnish the credibility of Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as a leader). Both, plaintiff (Abdul Khalid) and Abu Kassim (defendant) were not present in court. The case has yet to go for the full trial.
On Dec 24, 2013, Abdul Khalid filed the suit claiming that the defendants had on April 4 last year interviewed one Airos Shahidin Manaf and then uploaded the video interview on MACC’s official web portal and YouTube.
In his statement of claim, Abdul Khalid stated that the interview was later downloaded, transcribed, printed and published in the local and foreign newspapers. Abdul Khalid contended that the words in the article had implied that he was guilty of corrupt practice, untrustworthy and not fit to be a politician.
He further said that the defendants had failed to verify the truth of the allegations, adding that the article lowered his dignity as Bandar Tun Razak member of parliament and Port Klang state assemblyman.
He is seeking compensatory and/or general damages as well as aggravated and exemplary damages from Abu Kassim and the government.
– BERNAMA
