PENANG, Feb 16: The Penang state government said it had appointed lawyer Karpal Singh to initiate a defamation suit against Pulau Betong state assemblyman Mohamad Farid Saad and right-wing Malay daily Utusan Malaysia over a false claim.
Both Farid and Utusan Malaysia, the mouthpiece of UMNO and its offshoot Perkasa, claimed that the state government was behind the distribution of a booklet called "My Balik Pulau”, which among others denied that Malays were the original inhabitants of the island.
Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng (pic) said Utusan Malaysia had deliberately played up the issue to ignite racial sentiments besides smearing the state government.
“We have given time for them to retract and apologise but they refused. So, there’s no other way but to file defamation suit against him and Utusan Malaysia,” said Guan Eng.
Farid earlier accused the state government of rewriting historical facts to mislead the younger generation. Lim had however strongly denied that the present state government had anything to do with the booklet.
He described UMNO and Utusan Malaysia's action as "spitting towards the sky" because "the publisher of 'My Balik Pulau' is none other than Barisan Nasional, the state's previous administrator."
"It was approved by BN state government before March 8, 2008 and before Pakatan Rakyat took over the state. Hence, Farid should know as he was part of the previous administration. What’s more when some of his strong supporters in UMNO had also contributed to the booklet,” Lim added.
http://en.harakahdaily.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2286:penang-sues-umno-rep-over-bns-provocative-tourism-booklet&catid=34:primary&Itemid=56
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