Settle out of court, Najib, Mkini Dotcom urged

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and online news publisher Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd, as well as two of its editors were advised by the High Court to settle their legal dispute over two articles published on the web portal out of court.

Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun, who acted for Najib, informed reporters about it after the matter came up for case management in the chambers of judge Datuk Kamaludin Md Said yesterday.

“The court suggested for an out-of-court settlement as it has already been three years since the case was filed.

“We are waiting for Malaysiakini to see if they have any suggestions on settlement.”

Hafarizam said the court had fixed another case management date on Sept 19, pending the decision on an appeal for leave in Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s case (on whether a public official could sue anyone, including the media, for defamation in their official capacity) against the New Straits Times Press (M) Sdn Bhd, Utusan Melayu (M) Berhad and two others at the Federal Court.

“The court is of the view that it is proper to wait for the disposal of the leave to appeal at the Federal Court before a date is fixed for hearing of the defendants’ application to strike out the suit,” Hafarizam said.

In the suit filed on May 30, 2014, Najib and Umno executive secretary Datuk Ab Rauf Yusoh, who is co-plaintiff, had named Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd, Malaysiakini.com editor-in-chief Steven Gan and chief editor Fathi Aris Omar as defendants.

They claimed that on May 14, the same year, the defendants had reported, produced and allowed the publication of two articles carried in the “Yoursay” column of the website.

Najib and Ab Rauf contended that the defendants had deliberately allowed the publication of the articles despite knowing that they contained baseless accusations and untruths.

They said the defamatory words had allegedly tarnished Najib’s reputation.

They claimed the articles tarnished their reputation when Umno was condemned, particularly on social and mass media.