KUALA LUMPUR – DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng has filed a defamation suit at the Shah Alam High Court, naming former housing minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, MalaysiaNow editor Muhammad Abd Ar-Rahman Koya, and MNow Media Sdn Bhd as defendants.
In his statement of claim, Lim said Zuraida made false statements about him pertaining to a housing project for former plantation staff in Bestari Jaya, Selangor.
These alleged defamatory statements were published by MalaysiaNow on May 10 in an article titled “Zuraida dakwa Guan Eng tolak dua kali permohonan KPKT bina rumah pekerja ladang Bestari Jaya” (Zuraida claims Guan Eng twice rejected KPKT’s application for plantation worker housing in Bestari Jaya).
In the article, Zuraida was quoted as saying that she tried to revive the housing project, which was delayed for 20 years, when she was a minister in the Pakatan Harapan administration, but was ignored by Lim.
Zuraida said she requested allocations from Lim, who refused to provide funds under the 2019 national budget.
In court documents, Lim said Zuraida’s statements and the contents of the article were false, adding that its publication tarnished his reputation.
He also said that these allegedly false statements were later republished by Malaysiakini in an article titled “PSM terkejut Zuraida dakwa Guan Eng tolak peruntukan 5 estet” (PSM shocked over Zuraida’s claims Guan Eng rejected allocation for five estates).
Lim, who is also Bagan MP, added that his lawyers from S.N. Nair & Partners sent a letter of demand to Zuraida on May 13 requesting her to retract the statement, which was denied by the former Ampang MP two days later.
Meanwhile, a letter of demand was sent to Rahman and MNow Media requesting a retraction but received no reply until the filing of Lim’s statement of claim.
He is seeking general, compensatory, aggravated, and exemplary damages from all defendants in addition to an injunction to prevent them from repeating the alleged false statements. – June 7, 2024