KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 — DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang told the court today that an article published in Mingguan Malaysia last year carried “blatant and outright lies” and was part of “a plot” against him and DAP leaders.
Lim was the first witness to be called in the defamation suit against Utusan Melayu whose Sunday edition is called Mingguan Malaysia.
“As far as I’m concerned, it is a figment of imagination, paid and produced in a booklet,” he said of the allegations reported in the Umno-owned newspaper.
The Gelang Patah MP is suing Utusan for libel for printing the article, “Kit Siang Manipulasi, Pemilihan CEC” (Kit Siang manipulated the CEC election), which he says damaged his reputation.
Lim told the court that the article implied that there were elements of dishonesty and immorality in his running of the party.
He also denied there were “concerns” about the central executive committee (CEC) elections, as reported in the article as no complaints were filed with the party.
The contentious article published on August 18, 2013 heavily quoted a 16-page booklet, entitled “Equity Report” by “Father Augustus Chen”, which claimed irregularities and vote manipulation allegedly to place cronies of both Lim and his son, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, on the powerful CEC, among other allegations.
Today, Judge Datuk Yeoh Wee Siam ruled that the booklet would not be accepted as evidence in court until the author is produced by the defence team to testify in court, verifying the authenticity of the content.
Lim maintained that Father Augustus Chen is “a figment of imagination, a total invention”.
The trial is adjourned to tomorrow with Mingguan Malaysia editor Mohd Zin Mahmud to be called to testify, the second and last witness for the plaintiff.
Utusan’s lawyer, Mohd Izral Khairy meanwhile told the court that the witness for the defence, Kasturi K. Manimaran is unwell and would only be able to testify at a later date.
