Ismail Sabri’s ‘turtle eggs’ suit to be settled amicably in High Court

KUALA LUMPUR: The RM10 million defamation suit filed by former Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob against Daily Express publisher and editor in connection with the publication of three articles on turtle eggs dish allegedly served at an event in Sabah, will be settled amicably in the High Court here.

The matter was disclosed by Ismail Sabri’s lawyer Samsinaralia Sahar after the case management before Judicial Commissioner Darryl Goon Siew Chye in chambers yesterday in the presence of lawyer Bhag Singh representing both the defendants - Sabah Publishing Sdn Bhd and James Sarda.

Samsinaralia said both parties would try to settle the case amicably and would inform the court on the outcome at the next case management scheduled for Aug 24.

On April 2, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal by Sabah Publishing and James against the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision on Oct 9 last year in dismissing their application to strike out the defamation suit.

Ismail Sabri fi led the lawsuit on March 30 last year at the Kuala Lumpur High Court claiming that Sabah Publishing and James had wrongfully and maliciously published three articles in the Daily Express on protected turtle eggs served at a dinner function in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah which he attended in 2015.

In his statement of claim, Ismail Sabri claimed that the defamatory words against him in the articles titled “Minister and Sabah YB have yet to comply: Dept” dated Jan 24, 2016; “Beluran turtle eggs dinner: Findings left to the AG” dated Sept 3, 2016; and “Explain turtle egg confusion first, Lim tells Minister” dated Sept 6, 2016, were wrong, baseless, ill-intended and had tarnished his reputation as a politician.

He is seeking an apology from the appellants, as well as RM10 million in general damages, aggravated damages and exemplary damages.

Sabah Publishing and James, in their statement of defence, denied publishing and printing the articles with wrongful and bad intentions.

They said the articles published were produced under conditional safeguards and without malice. - Bernama