By Rahmah Ghazali
KUALA LUMPUR: DAP is going ahead with legal action against Berita Harian and Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam over a report accusing party strongman Lim Kit Siang of referring to Umno members as infidels.
Unimpressed with Berita Harian’s attempt at making amends, Lim said today that DAP would file a writ of summons against the paper and the chief minister at the Kuala Lumpur High Court this Monday.
The party is suing the two for defamation despite Berita Harian’s publication of a “correction” that reads:
Ralat – Ucapan Pengerusi Badan Perhubungan UMNO Melaka, Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam dalam ceramahnya, DAP semakin berani mencampuri urusan agama Islam di peti Kampung Baru Hulu, Gua Musang, seperti disiarkan Berita Harian semalam, bukan merujuk kepada Penasihat DAP, Lim Kit Siang. Kesilapan dikesali. – Pengarang.
(Correction—The statement by the Chairman of the Malacca Umno Liaison Committee, Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, in his talk (entitled) “DAP has become bolder in interfering with Islamic religious affairs” at the balloting district of Kampung Baru Hala, Gua Musang, as published by Berita Harian yesterday, was not in reference to DAP Advisor Lim Kit Siang. The error is regretted.—Editor.)
Lim told reporters that the so-called correction, carried in the paper’s Page 8, did not amount to an apology and in fact “added insult to injury” because it implied that Mohd Ali was right in accusing DAP of interfering in Islamic affairs.
DAP chairman and practicing lawyer Karpal Singh will be Lim’s counsel in the case.
Asked if he had sought clarification from Mohd Ali, Lim said: “No need. Besides, he has kept quiet for the past 48 hours. He could have said that he was misquoted by Berita Harian. Maybe he can take legal action against the paper too.”
Karpal told reporters he would spend tomorrow’s Deepavali holiday and the weekend preparing the legal papers.
“If they want trouble, they have come to the right place,” he said.
Lim also told reporters that he had tabled a parliamentary motion seeking a RM10 deduction from Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail’s salary because he had closed investigations into conflicting statutory declarations made by private investigator P Balasubramaniam regarding the alleged involvement of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak in the murder of Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaariibuu.
He said Gani’s decision had increased doubts about the integrity of the judicial system.
He said he would seek a similar deduction from the salary of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Abu Kassim Mohamed for Malaysia’s poor performance in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI).
