GEORGE TOWN, March 6 — Penang Gerakan Youth acting chairman Jason Loo was served with three writ of summons from the Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng last month, he announced today.

Loo said the three statement of claims issued to him on February 21 and 28 were in relation to a press conference he held on May 29 last year.

“These defamation suits are related to my statement on the sale of the Peel Avenue land,” he said in a press conference here.

Loo said he had questioned the sale of the land in the May 29 press conference and accused Lim of making a one-man decision in the sale of the land.

In the three defamation suits, one named Loo as the sole defendant while the other two named Loo jointly with China Press and Guang Ming Daily respectively.

In the statements of claims, Lim is demanding that Loo, China Press and Guang Ming Daily withdraw and retract the defamatory statements published in the respective newspapers.

He is also demanding for a public apology to be published and an injunction to stop Loo and the two Chinese dailies from publishing similar defamatory statements against him in future.

These three defamation suits were in addition to another suit filed against Loo by Consortium Zenith Sdn Bhd back in 2016 over the latter’s statements on the Penang undersea tunnel project.

“The 2016 defamation suit is fixed for hearing in October this year and the case management for these latest two suits were held on March 1 and another one on March 13,” Loo said.

In response to the legal suits, Loo wrote an open letter to Lim to tell him that the legal suits will not shut him up.

“I studied law in the hope that everyone can be treated equally and your previous political movements have even reinforced my hope for equality,” he read out the letter addressing Lim.

He said he chose to join the Opposition in Penang as he believed that a healthy democratic system needs an opposition to provide check and balance in the political system so that people can be treated equally.

“However, when I receive the three legal summons from you, the belief in equality that you supposedly profess got me shaken,” he said.

He said Lim seemed to have forgotten the freedom of speech, freedom of media and freedom of information that the latter had been championing all this while.

“I always base my arguments on facts when I raise issues,”

“I fight for constructive check and balance, including the undersea tunnel project and now the Peel Avenue land deal which I am being sued by you in three separate legal suits when I raised questions pertaining to public interest,” he said.

Loo said he may face the possibility of bankruptcy and being disqualified as a candidate in the coming general elections due to the legal suits.

“I will not be intimidated by such threats. I will continue to speak up for the people of Penang,” he said.