Umno is not a provocative party, the High Court hearing the defamation suit filed by Penang Umno chief Zainal Abidin Osman against Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was told today.

The party also had no ill-intention against the DAP state government, said Zainal Abidin, 52, when cross-examined by lawyer Jagdeep Singh Deo, representing Lim, in the court in Kuala Lumpur.

Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman, penang umno chief Earlier, Zainal ( left ) refuted the contents of an article written by a journalist with The Malaysian Insider , Clara Chooi Ai Leng, on an attempt to set fire to the DAP office in Penang on Aug 18 last year.

Zainal, who filed the suit on behalf of Penang Umno, said he only knew about Lim's allegation on the attempt to set fire to the DAP office from newspaper reports.

The statement by Lim had angered the Muslims, he said.

He also told the court that he was informed Lim had uttered the defamatory words when interviewed by Chooi in front of other journalists on Aug 18 last year, after the National Finance Council meeting.

Lim claimed that Umno was involved in the attempt to set fire to the Penang DAP premises, he added.

Meanwhile, lawyer Karpal Singh, also representing Lim, objected to Zainal's filing of the suit on behalf of Umno.

This came about when Zainal told the court that there was no official declaration by Umno for him to initiate the legal action.

Both parties to submit on Wednesday

Following this, judge Amelia Tee Hong Geok Abdullah set Wednesday for submission by both parties on whether to proceed with the suit or not.

Zainal, represented by Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yonoos, filed the suit on Oct 24 last year.

NONE Apart from Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, the other defendants named are Parti Keadilan Rakyat as the owner of the electronic news portal Keadilan Daily and newspaper Suara Keadilan , Segmen Fleksibel Sdn Bhd as the publishing company of Keadilan Daily and Suara Keadilan , and its chief sub-editor, Fazallah Pit.

In his statement of claim, Zainal said that on July 3, Lim had released a press statement via email and later published it in Keadilan Daily on July 3 and Suara Keadilan on July 5.

He said Lim's statement, among others, meant that he was purportedly involved in trying to overthrow the Penang chief minister through illegal means as well as conceal his involvement in a demonstration at Komtar and the Penang Bridge on July 1.

He said that on Aug 18, Lim issued another hurtful statement in front a group of journalists and this was published on the news website of The Malaysian   Insider on the same day.

Zainal is seeking RM30 million in compensation, interest, costs and other relief deemed appropriate by the court and an injunction to prevent all the defendants from continuing to issue or publish the allegedly defamatory statements.

- Bernama