Najib Told To Learn How To Accept Criticisms

The High Court has set 6 May 2015, to hear an application by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Umno executive secretary Ab Rauf Yusoh to strike out paragraphs from the counter claim and statement of defence of Malaysiakini and two others over a defamation suit.

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Counsel Nor Hazira, representing both Najib and Ab Rauf said the application was filed on January 28, among others, on grounds that the counter claim and defence were frivolous, vexatious and abuse of court process. Najib and Ab Rauf are seeking to strike out more than 50 paragraphs from the counter claim and statement of defence.

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On 30 May 2014, the prime minister filed the suit in his personal capacity, and Ab Rauf, on behalf of Umno, against Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd, malaysiakini.com editor-in-chief Steven Gan and chief editor Fathi Aris Omar. They claimed that the defendants had reported, produced and allowed the publication on 14 May 2014 of two articles carried in the ‘Yoursay’ column of Malaysiakini. The defamatory words had allegedly tarnished Najib’s reputation as a politician, as the Umno president and as the prime minister.

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They are seeking aggravated, excessive, general and special damages, interests and an injunction to restrain the defendants or their assistants from publishing the articles. The plaintiffs also want a written apology from the defendants to be published in the newspapers, and costs.

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Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has filed a libel suit against online news publisher Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd and two of its editors. Also named as co-plaintiff in the suit is Umno, which is represented by the political party’s public officer Datuk Ab Rauf Yusoh. Najib is suing in his personal capacity.

The suit, filed on May 30 by Umno and Najib in his personal capacity through Messrs Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak, seeks general, special, aggravated, excessive and exemplary damages against the news portal for publishing allegedly defamatory remarks against both plaintiffs.

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In response, Gan said the independent news portal had expected such action after Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia attacked Malaysiakini readers last month. He said the news portal, as always, had offered Najib the right of reply and to engage Malaysiakini readers. This offer was rejected by Najib in a letter sent to Malaysiakini last Thursday.

At the National Press Club award ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on May 26, Najib explained that his legal action against a news portal was not part of a media crackdown. "I want to be very clear. This does not indicate any wider agenda. It is not part of any crackdown. It is not an attempt to silence critical voices," he had said

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Without naming Malaysiakini then, Najib said he believed the news portal had gone overboard. "There is a difference between legitimate criticism and defamation. It is my legal team's opinion that recent allegations by an online news portal overstepped the line."

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Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak should learn to accept criticism and not respond with legal threats, Reporters without Borders (RSF) said today.
of his critics, says Reporters without Borders.

The Paris-based NGO that defends press freedom and reporters’ rights worldwide said there were other ways for a national leader to express disagreement with media reports.

“The threat of legal action against news media on behalf of a serving prime minister constitutes a potential threat to freedom of information,” said Benjamin Ismail, head of the Asia-Pacific desk for RSF was reported saying on its website.

“As a public figure, Najib Razak must learn to accept criticism. He has other ways to make his views known and to express disagreement, in particular using his right of reply.”

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and UMNO have threated to take legal action against Malaysiakini over two articles published by the news portal which allegedly contained defamatory and seditious comments.

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On Thursday, Najib and Umno, through law firm Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak, demanded a retraction and an unconditional apology from Malaysiakini of two 'Yoursay' articles, compilations of readers' comments on the government's handling of the Terengganu crisis.

In particular, the complainants were upset over six readers' comments in the two articles entitled ‘A case of the PM reaping what he sows’ and ‘How much will Najib spend to keep Terengganu?’.

Najib's legal action was initiated in his personal capacity and jointly with Umno through law firm Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak.

The letter, signed by prominent Umno lawyer Mohd Hafarizam Harun, said the comments made in particular by six Malaysiakini readers, are also seditious.

Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun, who is counsel for both Umno and Najib, said the alleged defamatory comments could be construed to mean that his clients were not competent to function as the leaders of the Government, had zero integrity and were unethical.

"All the accusations made by users on Malaysiakini.com were totally baseless, without concrete proof and are very serious, on top of having ill-intent (mala fide) to damage the reputation and image of our clients,” said Mohd Hafarizam.

"They, among others, are also intended to lower the honour and credibility of our clients as the backbone of the BN government...," it said.

He added that the comments could also be construed to mean that both Umno and Najib were racists, had no moral values, had conspired against the nation in bad practice, were corrupt and had abused their powers. He said the articles had a negative impact on Najib and Umno, had spread hatred, contempt and ridicule and ruined their credibility.

Malaysiakini said Najib and Umno demanded for an unconditional apology from the news portal within 48 hours from the issuance of the letter of demand, as well as a retraction of the allegedly defamatory articles.

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They also wanted Malaysiakini to sign an undertaking that the news portal would not publish similar statements which they claimed were defamatory.

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If Malaysiakini does not respond to these demands, Hafarizam was quoted as saying that his firm would initiate court action against them. This includes filing an injunction to prevent further publication of similar content.

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In an immediate response, editor-in-chief Steven Gan said the independent news website had expected such action after Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia attacked Malaysiakini readers last month.

He said the news portal, as always, will offer Najib the right of reply and to engage Malaysiakini readers. “He is more than welcome to explain to them why he thinks their opinions of him and Umno are wrong,” said Gan.

He said the prime minister and Umno should present their views, which will be published in Malaysiakini, rather than threatening media organisations with libel proceedings.

In the RSF article, Malaysiakini's editor-in-chief Steven Gan is also quoted saying that Najib's actions were "highly unusual". "I think this is first time in Malaysia that a sitting PM is planning to sue a media organisation," Gan told Reporters Without Borders.

Former Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee said like any other individual, Najib is entitled to take action to protect his legal rights, and such moves had happened in Singapore involving the island state's prime ministers.

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"However, there is the question of whether he should do this during his tenure as PM, involving his precious time and energy (while) being distracted by what is really low-level litigation. "Politicians and individuals occupying positions of public office have to expect criticisms from the public, some or most of which could be incorrect. "The proper reaction is for the recipient of criticisms to come back with arguments against the criticisms," Lim said in an email to The Malaysian Insider.

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Acknowledging that Najib has the right to defend himself, Ragunath said the prime minister would not be the first or the last person to initiate legal proceedings against the country’s media, noting that even opposition leaders had done so many times. "To be fair to the PM, there are a lot of statements made against him online. People need to learn to be responsible in making comments and a lot does not seem to be aware of this responsibility," he added.

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They said while Najib had the right to defend himself, a more apt move would be to use its right of reply as suggested by Malaysiakini and engage the news portal's readers.

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