NST’s article meant that I’m an American agent, says Anwar

(Bernama) - Six years after Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim filed a defamation suit against the New Straits Times Press Bhd (NSTP) over an article titled “Anwar’s Link To US Lobbyist”, he told the High Court on Nov 11 that the article implied that he was a person who was disloyal to Malaysia, an American agent as well as a dishonest and untrustworthy leader and politician.

Anwar, 62, who was the first witness in the case, claimed that the article, which was published in the New Straits Times on March 2, 2002, had not told the truth and that he felt defamed and libelled by those words.

The article had touched on Anwar’s links with an alleged Washington DC lobbyist as well as on financial links between him and an organisation known as the Asia Pacific Policy Centre (APPC) and allegations made in a statutory declaration by a former assistant governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Datuk Abdul Murad Khalid.

When asked by his counsel, Karpal Singh, during examination-in-chief, whether he at any time had challenged the veracity of the articles, Anwar said he had publicly challenged the government and then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations contained in the article, but it was not carried out.

In 2003, Anwar filed the suit against the NSTP and its former group editor-in-chief, Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad, as he claimed that the article was meant to run him down.

Anwar is claiming, among others, RM100 million in general damages, exemplary and aggravated damages, interest, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.

The defendants, in their statement of defence, claimed qualified privilege, among other things.

The APPC had worked with the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) to organise a series of dialogues to establish better rapport with government officials from Asean and the United States.

When cross-examined by the defendants’ counsel, Nad Segaram, Anwar claimed that he only co-chaired the APPC dialogues and that it was Dr Mahathir who was leading them.

“But he (Dr Mahathir) was not accused as an American agent by the New Straits Times, but I was,” he said, adding that the cost of the event was paid by the Prime Minister’s Department.

The second witness, a former director of investigations in the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA), Abdul Razak Idris, told the court that Abdul Murad’s statutory declaration was baseless and unsustainable, and that he ordered that an investigation into allegations that Anwar had stashed away RM3 billion in foreign accounts for APPC, be closed.

Abdul Razak, 60, who had retired from the ACA and is now a director of several companies, said the ACA had investigated Murad’s statutory declaration thoroughly, and had even gone to Singapore and the United Kingdom to obtain evidence. But the investigations had resulted in “no case” against Anwar pertaining to those allegations, he said.

When asked by Nad on who made the decision to close the investigation against Anwar, Abdul Razak said the senior federal counsel in the Attorney-General’s Chambers decided to close the case after he (Abdul Razak) concluded that there was no case against Anwar.

Datin Rose Ismail, the former NST reporter and leader writer who had written the article, told the court that she wrote it for follow-up purposes as the issue relating to Anwar and the APPC had already been widely reported in the media.

When asked by Nad why she did not contact Anwar before releasing the article, Rose, who is currently managing director of a media consultancy, said Anwar was in prison.

After Rose completed her evidence, Judicial Commissioner Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal fixed Nov 12 for submissions.