Published: Tuesday October 23, 2012 MYT 4:57:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday October 23, 2012 MYT 5:06:22 PM

No change or additional facts in article, Utusan tells court in Anwar's suit

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here was told Tuesday that no editing, changing or adding of facts was made by Utusan Malaysia on a statement by former Selangor PAS Commissioner Datuk Dr Hasan Ali pertaining to his comments on Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's interview with BBC.

Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Berhad senior news editor 2, Zulkiflee Bakar, 44 said being that the said article was published by the newspaper, dated last Jan 17, was in transcript form based on what was said by Hassan.

Zulkiflee, who is testifying in the hearing of a suit filed by Anwar against Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd and its editor-in-chief, Datuk Abdul Aziz Ishak, also told the court that he did not get any comments from Anwar (on the article) because Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) did not entertain Utusan.

"The PKR office has placed a notice barring representatives from Utusan at any media conference by Anwar," he said when questioned by lawyer Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, representing Utusan.

Zulkiflee, who is the fourth defendant witness, said he wrote the article after discussing it with journalist Saiful Nizam Mohamad, who was with him at the media conference called by Hassan. He also said that the article was published after getting the approval from Abdul Aziz.

The publication of the article was not to slander Anwar, he added.

Questioned by Anwar's lawyer, N. Surendran, whether the publication of the article was intended to damage Anwar's reputation in politics, Zulkiflee said 'no'.

On Jan 20, Anwar filed a defamation suit seeking RM50mil in aggravated and exemplary damages and other relief deemed fit by the court. He claimed that the defendants had published two articles in the Utusan Malaysia daily, dated Jan 17, in relation to his BBC interview.

Judge Datuk V.T.Singham set Dec 27 for decision. - Bernama

News

Published: Tuesday October 23, 2012 MYT 4:57:00 PMUpdated: Tuesday October 23, 2012 MYT 5:06:22 PM

No change or additional facts in article, Utusan tells court in Anwar's suit

Published: Tuesday October 23, 2012 MYT 4:57:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday October 23, 2012 MYT 5:06:22 PM