The publisher of the Buletin Rakyat newspaper, its editor and a writer today apologised to Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (Kita) president Zaid Ibrahim in an out-of-court settlement of a

RM30-million defamation suit brought by Zaid against them.

Publisher Kantung Network Sdn Bhd, editor Norzah Kepol and writer Mohd Sayuti Omar will also hand over RM1,000 to Yayasan Kurang Upaya Kelantan, a charitable foundation owned by Zaid, as part of the settlement, said their lawyer Nizam Bashir.

High Court Judge Zabariah Mohd Yusof, who presided over the case, allowed the apology to be recorded as a consent order.

Nizam said the trio agreed to withdraw the defamatory statement and not repeat it as well as publish an apology in the newspaper after the Chinese New Year, which falls on Monday.

Zaid had filed the suit against the trio on Dec 9 last year following the publication of the article titled ‘ Zaid terus hanyut dalam keegoannya ’ (Zaid continues to drown in his ego).

In his statement of claim, Zaid had said the article meant that he had low political moral, was egoistic, autocratic, used wealth to force people into submission and was not of good character.

Zaid had sought an injunction to restrain the defendants from publishing such defamatory words in the newspaper and on the Internet.

He had also sought an interim order to compel the defendants to withdraw and delete the defamatory words as well as an apology to be published in the paper continuously for two months or a period deemed appropriate by the court.

He had also sought RM10 million from each defendant as general, aggravated and exemplary damages.

- Bernama