by Hasbullah Awang Chik
The Malaysian Insider
August 21, 2013

DAP national legal head Gobind Singh Deo has given Umno-controlled daily Utusan Malaysia 48 hours to respond to a letter of demand over two defamatory articles.

The two articles headlined “At last the drama has ended” and “Kit Siang manipulated CEC elections?”, were dated August 17 and 18.

The first article quoted the Equity Report said to be written by a Father Augustus Chen, while the other report was that DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang had manipulated the party polls last December.

“The article quoting the Equity Report had no verification. Editor Zulkifli Jalil and reporter Kasthuri Jeevendran as well as Utusan Malaysia, have to answer all the allegations,” Gobind said at the party’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

DAP also wanted Utusan to reveal who was the real author of the booklet and has demanded for the apology within the stipulated time.

Gobind added that the Utusan editor and reporter should be clear about journalism ethics and should have verified allegations contained in the booklet before publishing the article.

He also said the Registrar of Societies (RoS) was equally influenced by the allegations in the booklet, which claimed that 753 delegates did not receive notices while 547 were phantom delegates.

“We have not determined how many court cases this has resulted in. DAP has been attacked in various ways for months now based on the Equity Report. Utusan must answer and DAP will not remain quiet. We will take this to court if there is no response from Utusan,” Gobind said.

The Puchong MP also explained that DAP had no other choice but to hold its re-elections, unless Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak or RoS declared that the party would not face de-registration.

“DAP has no problems to take RoS to court but due to time constraints, the registrar could at any juncture de-register the party if it was not satisfied with the reasons given,” said Gobind.

The so-called Father Augustus Chen had made among others claims, allegations to justify RoS and the BN government’s action against DAP – firstly, 753 delegates were not notified of the DAP Congress in Penang last December and secondly, there were 547 phantom delegates who voted at the DAP Congress as well as other allegations against the party’s leaders.

Despite repeated denials by DAP on the claims by Father Augustus Chen, Utusan Malaysia had carried the two articles, based on contents in the booklet. – August 21, 2013.