CPJ calls for withdrawal of excessive RM100m defamation suit against veteran journalist

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) and its executive vice-chairperson Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din to withdraw a RM100 million defamation suit against veteran journalist P. Gunasegaram. The suit, filed at the Shah Alam High Court on July 29, concerns an opinion piece by Gunasegaram on the LRT3 project that was published by KINIBIZ and shared by Gunasegaram on his Facebook page.

MRCB alleges that the article suggested the company had secured the LRT3 project through cronyism, political patronage and political connections, and linked those factors to cost overruns and delays in the project. However, Gunasegaram, who co-founded KINIBIZ in 2013 and has written for Malaysiakini, has stood by the article, describing it as fair comment on a matter of public interest.

CPJ Asia-Pacific programme coordinator Kunal Majumder said the lawsuit was an attack on press freedom and urged companies involved in public projects to accept scrutiny and use the Malaysia Media Council’s dispute resolution mechanism if they have complaints over media reports.

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