KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — A former law lecturer at Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA) Dr Abdul Aziz Bari has reached a settlement over a defamation suit he filed against former Kulim-Bandar Baharu Member of Parliament Datuk Zulkifli Noordin and Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Berhad today.
High Court judge Datin Yeoh Wee Siam recorded the consent judgment between the parties involved.
Earlier, Abdul Aziz’s lawyer, Mohamed Hanipa Maidin, when reading the settlement, said both parties had reached a consent settlement without any admission to liability by the defendants.
He said Utusan Melayu agreed to withdraw the defamatory words uttered by Zulkifli, who was named the first defendant, and was re-published by Utusan Malaysia on Oct 18, 2011.
This was then confirmed by lawyer T.K.B Mohana Kumar, representing Utusan Melayu, when Yeoh queried on the matter.
The court was supposed to hear the case today.
In the suit filed on Dec 22, 2011, Abdul Aziz named Zulkifili, who is also a lawyer; Datuk Abdul Aziz Ishak, the group editor-in chief of Utusan Malaysia and also Mingguan Malaysia; and Utusan Melayu as defendants.
He claimed that on Oct 17, 2011, Zulkifli had uttered defamatory words against him, which were published a day later in an article in Utusan Malaysia.
Abdul Aziz claimed the words referred to him directly because his name and designation were specifically mentioned in the article.
He said the natural and ordinary meaning of the words meant that he was,
among others, a rude and uncouth individual and a law professor who was not fit to be a law lecturer. — Bernama
