MACC Chief Azam Baki Sues Investigative Journalist For RM10 Million For Defamation
The journalist, Lalitha Kunaratnam, had exposed the alleged impropriety of Azam by delving into his alleged actions, as well as his supposed ties and ownership details within several public listed companies.
By Sadho Ram — 13 Jan 2022, 03:30 PM
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki has filed a defamation suit seeking RM10 million in damages against an investigative journalist over her articles
The suit was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court through law firm Messrs Zain Megat & Murad yesterday, 12 January, according to a statement issued by Azam's counsel Megat Abdul Munir.
A Bernama report quoted Megat as saying the suit is in relation to two articles written by Lalitha Kunaratnam that were published on the Independent News Service (INS) on 26 October and 15 December last year.
The two articles in question are "Business Ties Among MACC Leadership: How Deep Does It Go? (Part 1)" and "Business Ties Among MACC Leadership: How Deep Does It Go? (Part 2)".
In her articles, Lalitha exposed the alleged impropriety of Azam by delving into his alleged actions, as well as his supposed ties and ownership details within several public listed companies.
While Azam has admitted that he allowed his brother Nasir Baki to use his account to purchase millions of shares in two public listed companies when he was the MACC director of investigations, he has denied claims that he has control over many companies and described them as malicious accusations.
According to Azam's counsel, the investigative journalist failed to respond to the MACC chief's Letter of Demand issued on 6 January and instead issued a press statement on Twitter through her lawyers
Megat said that Lalitha, in her press statement on 9 January, claimed to stand by her articles, the contents of which the MACC chief "strenuously maintains are defamatory".
"Our client is therefore constrained to file this suit before the expiry of 14 days from the date of the Letter of Demand to protect his good name, reputation, and professional standing," the lawyer added.
In the statement of claim, Azam seeks, among other things, RM10 million in damages and an injunction against Lalitha, her agents, and her family from making any defamatory statements against him
He also demands that within three days from the date of a judgement favourable to him, Lalitha retracts and deletes any statements injurious to his reputation and makes a public apology, reported The Vibes.
Meanwhile, referring to the two articles written by Lalitha, Azam, as the plaintiff, stated that the headlines of the articles themselves are "sensational, scandalous, annoying and vilifying".
"This is because, (when the articles) were drafted, published, and republished, it was done with malice and bad faith so that readers would conclude that the plaintiff (Azam) is a corrupt civil servant who abuses his position for his and his sibling's self-interest," read the statement of claim.
Additionally, Azam has been ordered to appear before the Parliament Select Committee (PSC) on the Agencies under the Prime Minister's Department for a meeting on 19 January over his shares ownership
PSC member Chan Foong Hin was quoted saying by Malaysiakini that Dewan Rakyat secretary Nizam Mydin Bacha has written a letter to Azam asking him to attend the meeting set for next Wednesday.
"As far as I know, only Azam has been summoned to the PSC meeting," the portal quoted him as saying.
