GEORGE TOWN: Utusan Melayu Berhad has agreed to an out-of-court settlement on a suit brought against the publication by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
Both parties agreed to the settlement with the publication’s legal officer Siti Nurzulaikha Ibrahim reading out an apology in the High Court on Wednesday regarding an article published by the paper on Aug 20, 2015.
Siti Nurzulaikha said the article should have stated that Lim had withdrawn his suit against former Penang Umno Youth leader Datuk Dr Shaik Hussein Mydin unconditionally after Dr Shaikh Hussein retracted his accusation that the Chief Minister was corrupt in an article published by the paper on Oct 5, 2012.
In the 2015 article, the paper reported that Lim had withdrawn his suit however, it failed to mention that it was done after Dr Shaik Hussein had retracted his accusation unconditionally and in good faith.
Lim filed the suit against Utusan in March 2016.
In the settlement on Wednesday, it was also agreed that Utusan should publish an apology within seven days in page two of the paper and pay an undisclosed sum to the Chief Minister.
