Press Conference Statement by the Executive Council of the State of Penang, in George Town on 15 December 2011.

The High Court's Judgment Against the Publisher of Utusan Malaysia Shows that Utusan Malaysia's Coverage was Malicious, Intended to Mislead Readers and Made in Bad Faith, and Proves that the Penang Chief Minister, the DAP and the Pakatan Rakyat State Government are Not Anti-Malay or Anti-Islam

Yesterday, the publisher of Utusan Malaysia was found guilty by High Court judge Justice Varghese George Varughese of untruthfulness, malice and bad faith in maliciously libelling the Chief Minister in its article entitled “Kebiadaban Lim Guan Eng” which was published on 20.12.2010, and was ordered by the judge to pay general and aggravated damages of RM200,000 plus costs of RM25,000 to the Chief Minister. Utusan Malaysia had gone on a rampage of lies and falsehoods to tar the DAP and the Chief Minister as anti-Malay and anti-Islam, leaving the Chief Minister no choice but to sue for defamation to clear his name. The Chief Minister has since announced that he will donate the RM200,000 damages to charity.

This judgment is a vindication of the policies of the Chief Minister, the DAP and the Pakatan Rakyat State Government in Penang, which since 2008 have been directed at serving all the People of Penang to the best of our abilities, without regard to race or religion. The judgment conclusively demonstrates that neither the Chief Minister, the DAP nor the Pakatan Rakyat State Government are anti-Malay or anti-Islam, as was falsely and maliciously claimed byUtusan Malaysia.

In his judgment, Justice Varghese found that there was no basis for the “rash and irresponsible” claim that the Chief Minister was a racist and opposed anything connected with the Malays. The judge found that the claim that the Chief Minister made a racist speech attacking the Malays and Malay institutions was clearly unbelievable, when there was no evidence that the audience, which mainly consisted of Malays, were offended by the speech.

In addition, the judge found that Utusan's seven allegations that the Chief Minister:

were all unsupported by the facts, and were based on distorted information and “half-truths”. The judge said that such “half-truths” were in fact “no truth at all”, and held that after examining the allegations, he had found that they were malicious, were intended to mislead readers, and were made in bad faith. He found that Utusan Malaysia had practised a “selective vendetta” intended to unfairly malign the Chief Minister and the DAP.

The Pakatan Rakyat State Government acknowledges and fully supports the findings of the learned High Court judge in this matter. Clearly, the Penang Chief Minister was cleared by the judge of undertaking the seven acts alleged by Utusan Malaysia above, and that the Penang Chief Minister and State Government had never committed such anti-Malay or anti-Islamic acts as claimed. We deplore the current state of the mainstream media in Malaysia, which is controlled by Barisan Nasional component parties and regularly used to stir up racial and religious disharmony amongst the people of Malaysia.

We hope that Utusan Malaysia and the rest of the mainstream media will take note of the judge's findings and his reminder of the importance of responsible journalism to the democratic system in Malaysia.

PENANG STATE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

Kenyataan Sidang Akhbar oleh Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang, di George Town pada 15 Disember 2011.

Keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Terhadap Penerbit Utusan Malaysia Menunjukkan Bahawa Liputan Utusan Malaysia Adalah Berniat Jahat Dan Bertujuan Menipu Pembaca, Serta Membuktikan Bahawa Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, DAP dan Kerajaan Negeri Pakatan Rakyat Bukan Anti-Melayu atau Anti-Islam

Semalam, penerbit Utusan Malaysia telah didapati bersalah oleh YA Hakim Tuan Varghese George Varughese kerana memfitnahkan YAB Ketua Menteri secara menipu, tidak jujur dan berniat jahat, dalam rencana yang bertajuk “Kebiadaban Lim Guan Eng” yang diterbitkan pada 20.12.2010, dan diperintahkan supaya membayar gantirugi am dan gantirugi keterlaluan sebanyak RM200,000 serta kos sebanyak RM25,000 kepada YAB Ketua Menteri. Utusan Malaysia sebelum ini telah mengamok dengan pembohongan dan ketidakbenaran yang bertujuan untuk menyifatkan DAP dan Ketua Menteri sebagai anti-Melayu dan anti-Islam, maka YAB Ketua Menteri tiada pilihan lain melainkan mengeluarkan saman fitnah untuk membela nama baiknya. YAB Ketua Menteri selepas itu telah mengumumkan bahawa RM200,000 tersebut akan didermakan kepada badan-badan amal.

Penghakiman ini sekaligus membuktikan bahawa polisi-polisi YAB Ketua Menteri, DAP dan Kerajaan Negeri Pakatan Rakyat di Pulau Pinang sejak 2008 memang bertujuan untuk membela semua Rakyat Pulau Pinang dengan sebaik mungkin, tanpa mengira kaum atau agama. Penghakiman ini menunjukkan secara konklusif bahawa YAB Ketua Menteri, DAP dan Kerajaan Negeri Pakatan Rakyat bukan anti-Melayu atau anti-Islam, seperti yang didakwa secara palsu dan berniat jahat oleh Utusan Malaysia.

Dalam penghakimannya, YA Hakim Tuan Varghese telah memutuskan bahawa dakwaan “terburu-buru dan tidak bertanggungjawab” oleh Utusan Malaysia yang menyifatkan YAB Ketua Menteri sebagai rasis dan menentang apa sahaja yang berkaitan dengan Melayu, adalah tidak berasas sama sekali. YA Hakim juga memutuskan bahawa dakwaan YAB Ketua Menteri telah membuat suatu ucapan yang rasis, menentang Melayu dan institusi-institusi Melayu, adalah sesuatu yang amat sukar dipercayai, apabila tidak ada sebarang bukti bahawa para pendengar ucapan itu, yang majoritinya Melayu, telah merasa tersinggung.

Tambahan pula, YA memutuskan bahawa ketujuh-tujuh dakwaan Utusan, iaitu bahawa YAB Ketua Menteri telah:

semuanya tidak disokong oleh fakta-fakta, malah berdasarkan maklumat yang diputarbelitkan dan “half-truths” atau “kenyataan separuh benar”. YA Hakim telah berkata bahawa “half-truths” atau “kenyataan separuh benar” itu sebenarnya “tidak benar sama sekali”, dan setelah mengkaji dakwaan-dakwaan tersebut, berpendapat bahawa dakwaan-dakwaan itu berniat jahat dan bertujuan untuk menipu pembaca-pembaca Utusan Malaysia. YA juga memutuskan bahawa Utusan Malaysia telah mengamalkan “selective vendetta” atau dendam terhadap Ketua Menteri dan DAP dengan tujuan untuk memfitnahkan mereka secara tidak adil.

Kerajaan Negeri Pakatan Rakyat menerima dan menyokong sepenuh-penuhnya keputusan YA Hakim dalam perkara ini. Jelas bahawa YAB Ketua Menteri telah didapati tidak bersalah dalam ketujuh-tujuh dakwaan oleh Utusan Malaysia di atas, dan juga bahawa YAB dan Kerajaan Negeri tidak pernah mengambil apa-apa tindakan yang bersifat anti-Melayu atau anti-Islam seperti yang didakwa. Kami berasa amat kesal dan kecewa melihat keadaan media massa arus perdana pada hari ini, yang dikuasai oleh parti-parti komponen Barisan Nasional dan sering dipergunakan untuk memecahkan keharmonian kaum dan agama di Malaysia.

Kami berharap bahawa Utusan Malaysia dan media massa arus perdana yang lain akan mengambil iktibar daripada keputusan YA Hakim dan menghayati seruannya bahawa pengamalan kewartawanan yang bertanggungjawab adalah amat penting kepada sistem demokratik di Malaysia.
MAJLIS MESYUARAT KERAJAAN NEGERI PULAU PINANG

-- 
Best regards, 
Ooi Heng
Parliamentary Research Head
KEADILAN Parliamentary Research Unit 
Office of the Leader of the Opposition
Level 14, Tower Block
Parliament of Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur.
Email: ooheng@hotmail.com

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