NST is ordered to pay RM130,000 to Guan Eng

Penang: The High Court here Friday ordered English daily The New Straits Times (NST) to pay RM130,000 in damages and costs to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng over two defamatory articles published earlier this year.The articles – titled "Come clean on payments, Penang urged" and "Penang BN claims CM lied over 4 issues" – were published on Jan 17 and Jan 19 respectively.

Counsel Simon Murali appeared for Lim to hear the consent judgement while the NST was represented by solicitors from Suflan TH Liew and Partners.

In the consent judgment, Judge Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail also ordered the NST to publish an unconditional apology in the Sunday edition of its newspaper, New Sunday Times.

"The defendant is ordered to fulfil both terms in this consent judgment within 14 days from today," she said in her judgment.

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In the unconditional apology, the NST is required to admit that the articles contained statements that were defamatory to Lim, who was the former Penang Chief Minister.

The newspaper must also apologise unconditionally and unreservedly to Lim for the publication of the articles.

Lim had filed a defamation suit against the NST over the articles that were written based on statements issued by Teng Chang Yeow, who was the then Penang Barisan Nasional chairman.

In his law suit, he claimed that the NST had in the articles portrayed him as having lied to the public about the undersea tunnel project, misleading the public on matters of public expenditure, abusing his position as the chief minister, that he is a schemer and manipulator, a habitual liar, lacks good character and dignity and lacks credibility, integrity and respect.

Lim also claimed that the NST had failed to exercise the requisite standard of professionalism in publishing the articles and had failed to take reasonable steps to verify the truthfulness of the statements issued by Teng.

Lim claimed that the NST did not give him reasonable opportunity to reply the allegations made in the articles and failed to print his explanation on the subject.

He had claimed for general damages, including aggravated damages and exemplary damages, costs and other reliefs deemed appropriate by the court.

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In the statement of defense, the NST had maintained that it had requested for his response in a press conference but the plaintiff said he would only answer the allegations in court.

The plaintiff's stand that not a single sen was paid to the project contractor was also published titled "Guan Eng: I will answer allegations in court".

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