PETALING JAYA: A News portal has issued a public apology and retracted a news report following a royal rebuke.
The news portal has since deleted the news report in question.
“We take note of Pahang Sultan, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah's reminder regarding the news we published.
“With this, we hereby apologise for the mistake, retract the news titled ‘Sultan Pahang beri amaran terhadap amalan bawaan PAS’ (Pahang Sultan warns against the practice of PAS), and erase it from our system,” said the news portal on Sunday (March 31) evening.
On Sunday, His Highness expressed disappointment over the news report published last Friday (March 29).
Comptroller Major General Datuk Mohamed Zahari Datuk Yahya said His Highness said the report was defamatory and could have negative implications that could lead to an atmosphere of disharmony in the community.
“His Highness’ statement was not directed at any political party and was general in nature. It serves the purpose of reminding that the mosque, a place of worship for Muslims, should always be kept clean, said Mohamed Zahari in a statement on Sunday (March 31).
Mohamed Zahari also reminded all media practitioners to check and peruse each news story before making any wrong interpretations.
“Journalistic ethics must always be adhered to, " Mohamed Zahari added.