The said report, which appeared in Utusan’s Aug 20, 2015 edition, was based on Lim’s defamation case against former Penang Umno Youth chief Shaik Hussein Mydin.
Shaik Hussein had called Lim “corrupt” in 2012. When Shaik Hussein was sued by Lim, Shaik Hussein apologised to Lim in chambers. Lim then withdrew the suit against him.
However, when Utusan carried a report on the withdrawal titled “Guan Eng tarik balik saman Shaik Hussein” (“Guan Eng withdraws suit against Shaik Hussein”), it left out the fact that the withdrawal of the suit followed an apology.
Shaik Hussein is now Bagan Umno chief.
Today, a consent judgement was reached between Utusan and Lim at the High Court here on three mutually-agreed terms.
The terms were a public apology before the court, an apology to appear on page 2 of Utusan (which must match the size of the original report) in the next seven days and compensation to Lim.
Utusan’s legal executive Norzulaikah Ibrahim read an apology before Judicial Commissioner Azmi Abdullah this morning.
The apology read:
“Behubung berita bertajuk ‘Guan Eng tarik balik saman terhadap bekas Ketua Pemuda Umno Negeri’ yang disiarkan oleh akhbar ini pada 20 Ogos 2015, artikel tersebut sepatutnya dibawa dengan fakta bahawa:
“Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang Lim Guan Eng menarik balik saman yang difailkan tiga tahun lalu terhadap bekas Ketua Pemuda Umno Negeri Datuk Dr Shaik Hussein Mydin setelah Shaik Hussein menarik balik tanpa sebarang syarat dan dengan penuh kerelaan hati dakwaan rasuah yang dibuat olehnya terhadap Lim Guan Eng pada 5 Oktober 2012.
“Kami memohon maaf kepada YAB Lim Guan Eng atas kesulitan yang dialami beliau ekoran daripada kekeliruan dan kesilapan fakta di pihak kami dalam penyiaran berita asal tersebut.”
The parties involved refused to reveal the settlement amount.
Lim then withdrew the defamation suit he took against Utusan over the story.
Lim had also sued Berita Harian (BH) for the “inaccurate court” story and won RM300,000 in damages. The BH story had also left out the fact that Shaik Hussein had apologised to Lim.