From left to right: Seputeh DAP Secretary Mr KY Khong, Me, lawyer Sankara Nair and Mr Yap Chai Huat (my Seputeh service center assistant).
Today, I filed a suit against Utusan Malaysia & writer of the article “Politik Baru YB J”, Chamil Wariya. The news reports below are self-explanatory.
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Kok sues Utusan, Chamil Wariya for RM30m
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — The MP for Seputeh is suing Utusan Malaysia and the head of the national press body for RM30 million at the High Court here this morning.
The no-nonsense Teresa Kok is accusing the Malay-language newspaper and the Malaysian Press Institute chief Datuk Chamil Wariya of smearing her name and endangering her life by publishing a short story titled “Politik Baru YB J” in its weekend edition two months ago.
In October, Kok sent letters to the publisher and Chamil demanding RM100 million in compensation and for them to apologise and withdraw the article from circulation.
Only Utusan replied. It denied her claims, said Kok’s lawyer, Sankara Nair.
But Kok is determined to make them pay, especially the Umno-owned daily.
This is the second time she is hauling Utusan to court.
On Oct 9, Kok, who is also the Selangor state assemblywoman for Kinrara, filed another RM30 million suit against the newspaper and its columnist Zaini Hassan for claiming she had “forced” a mosque in her constituency to stop using loudspeakers to broadcast the azan.
The court has yet to fix a date for those suits, said Sankara.
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Kok sues Utusan, Chamil for RM30mil
Hafiz Yatim | Dec 12, 08 10:58am
Selangor executive councillor and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok has filed a RM30 million defamation suit against Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia and prominent writer Chamil Wariya.
She is suing Chamil, currently Malaysian Press Institute chief executive officer, and Utusan over the publication of a short story ‘Politik baru YB J’ which appeared on Oct 12 in Mingguan Malaysia.
The story describes a female member of Parliament named Josephine who was deemed anti-Malay and anti-Islam, and who was eventually murdered.
Earlier Kok had sent both parties a letter of demand in which she said the story by Chamil was designed to deliberately encourage and fan racial and religious hatred towards her.
“(The article) is deliberately designed to justify and or encourage the causing of grave physical harm to our client including assassination,” read the letter.
Kok had told Utusan to retract the article and publish an apology.
Both letters were issued on Oct 17. The two recipients were given seven days to reply, failing which legal proceedings would be initiated.
The law suit was filed today after Kok failed to receive a response from Chamil. Utusan has already responded.
Kok is seeking RM30 million in compensatory damages, aggravated and exemplary damages and also an injunction restraining the defendants from uttering, speaking or publishing the offending article or words again.
The suit was filed at the High Court registry at 8.35am today by the law firm SN Nair and Partners.
Disturbing similarities
In her statement of claim, Kok said the article portrayed her as a racist and religious bigot. It also portrayed her as an untrustworthy politician who was intolerant, chauvinistic, anti-Islam and anti-Malay, a danger to society and who must be assassinated.
Kok also alleged that the article, among others, insinuated that she had committed an offence and should be jailed and that her political philosophy was destructive to Malaysia. The article had also allegedly hinted that it was lawful to kill someone if you disagreed with their political views.
The Seputeh MP added that the article’s portrayal of her was unfounded, baseless and in gross negligence, and was out to tarnish her reputation as an MP, a state assemblyperson and a Selangor executive councillor.
Kok also pointed out that there were similarities between her and the character, in that they were both in the thick of a religious and racial controversy; had Malay drivers and were members of opposition parties.
The religious controversy Kok was referring to was the one involving former Selangor Menteri Besat Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo and website pembelamelayu who had accused Kok of attempting to seek public support for a petition to tone down the volume of azan in the Kinrara, Puchong and Kota Damansara mosques.
Nair, who was present at the filing said this will be a first of three suits to be filed by the politician
“We will file another lawsuit against Khir next week for what the former MB had said about my client,” he said, adding that the third suit would be against pembelamelayu.
Law suits: Tit for tat
Kok had earlier filed a RM30 million defamation suit against Utusan and the paper’s columnist Zaini Hassan over another article which allegedly defamed her.
The suit was filed on Oct 9 following her release from seven days of detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
Her arrest was linked to her alleged involvement in petitioning a mosque to lower the volume of azan over the loudspeakers.
The allegations surfaced in Zaini’s article but were denied by Kok as well as the mosque committee.
Utusan has also filed a suit against Kok for allegedly defaming the company when she allegedly accused the Malay daily of distorting her statements about the food she was served while under ISA detention.
Just go and sue this garbage reporting media UM and that bum Chamil W till kingdom comes.
Make sure they pay the price for the racialistic and religious remarks made on your goodself.
They think they have those BN politicians behind them they can do whatever they like.
What morons and idiots they are.
Whatever happen to the UMNO Cheras’ “Save Utusan Fund”?
I wonder if the judge would feel any pressure presiding this case?
This is a test for the CJ, Zaki, who was and perhaps still is an UMNO man…how will he fare in this episode?