GEORGE TOWN, Sept 2 — DAP’s Lim Guan Eng has instructed his lawyer to file a suit against Umno-owned Malay broadsheet Utusan Malaysia, over its front-page article today condemning him and several others for the mammoth Bersih 4 rally last weekend.

Holding up the newspaper, the DAP secretary-general and Penang chief minister denied that he, his father, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, and Parti Amanah Negara chief Mohamad Sabu were the organisers of Bersih 4.

“Once again Utusan wants to cause disharmony, once again Utusan slanders those who are innocent, once again Utusan is a national threat, this is slander and a lie,” the Bagan MP said, referring to the full article on page four of the newspaper.

The front page article with the headline “Malulah Kamu!” (Shame on you) featured pictures of Guan Eng, Kit Siang, Mohamad, Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah and prominent lawyer-activist Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan.

The newspaper said the quintet were the organisers of the two-day civil disobedience demonstration that drew tens of thousands into the streets of Kuala Lumpur and blamed them for “shameful” actions, which included attempting to topple a democratically elected government, threatening the patriotic spirit of Malaysians, promoting perverse sex acts and sabotaging the country’s image and economy.

The article also said Chin should be ashamed and alleged that obscene acts were committed during the rally that promotes the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) lifestyle.

“What is this, dragging in LGBT issue? Utusan should be the one that’s ashamed. It is even worse to be printing lies and slander,” Guan Eng said.

The two-day rally held over the weekend was organised by electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 but was supported by a number of federal opposition lawmakers and politicians, including Guan Eng, Kit Siang and Mohamad who also joined in the overnight campout.

Bersih 4 sought to pressure the Barisan Nasional federal government to carry out institutional reforms to end corruption and save the economy, but chiefly to pressure Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to resign from office.