KUALA LUMPUR: The Utusan Malaysia newspaper, slapped with a suit for carrying a defamatory article in 2007, has apologised for a second time to lawyer Rosli Dahlan.

The publisher’s senior legal manager-cum-company secretary Shirad Anwar read out the apology yesterday in open court before High Court judge Datuk Su Geok Yiam.

Utusan on April 15, 2008 published an apology to Rosli for the article, “Police lawyer who failed to declare assets charged in court today”.

Rosli said the first four defendants, Utusan’s publisher Utusan (Melayu) Malaysia Bhd and its three employees and he agreed to settle the suit following a consent judgment before Su.

“The judgment was recorded in chambers, but the terms remain confidential,” he said, adding that the newspaper representative was to make a public apology.

The publisher confirmed that various statements which Utusan had claimed about Rosli were untrue, including that he had failed to disclose his assets, had hidden assets belonging to a senior police officer, had maliciously tried to frustrate investigations and had acted unprofessionally as a lawyer.

It also acknowledged that Rosli had been acquitted by the court of all charges brought against him by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The publisher also admitted that the Oct 12, 2007 article was sensationalised to generate publicity and exceeded the parameters of ethical journalism.

“We hereby again unconditionally and unreservedly apologise to lawyer Rosli Dahlan for our said untruthful articles and we regret the damage that we have caused to him,” the statement said.

Rosli, a partner with an established legal firm in Kuala Lumpur, filed a RM50 million suit in September 2009 against 17 defendants, including Utusan, its editors and journalists.

The others were the MACC, its chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed and his officers.

Rosli was the lawyer who represented former Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Ramli Yusoff against corruption charges brought against him in 2007.

The Sessions Court acquitted Ramli of all charges in 2009 and the decision was upheld by two superior courts. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 7, 2015.