KUCHING: Sarawak DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen attributed the defamation suit filed against him by Santubong MP Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar to miscommunication.
Met after the hearing at the High Court yesterday, the Kota Sentosa assemblyman said his statement on March 31 last year was not an attack on the Santubong MP’s personal character which the latter had believed.
Both Chong and Wan Junaidi reached an amicable settlement yesterday, but Chong had to pay RM25,000 in cost in addition to withdrawing his statement.
“We agreed to an amicable settlement whereby I retracted my statement. From the start it was not an attack on his personal character. I was referring to a certain statement, but he viewed it as an attack on his personal character, which was why he took the (legal) action.
“It was miscommunication and a misunderstanding over the target of the statement. So because of that we have cleared the air today. I withdrew (the statement) and amicably settled the matter.
“There is no point for us to continue to fight the legal battle and that is why I retracted the statement,” he said.
In delivering the ruling at the hearing of the civil defamation suit yesterday, Judicial Commissioner Dr Lim Hock Leng said the matter would be settled out of court with conditions.
Chong was represented by his father, Chong Siew Chiang, who was assisted by
lawyers Michael Kong and Tan Kee Heng.
Wan Junaidi, who is also a lawyer and former Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker, was represented by Counsel Wilfred Yap.
