Human rights lawyer Edmund Bon has defended his legal firm's move to sue a news portal on behalf of Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

Although freedom of speech is considered a fundamental human right, Bon said even these principles allow for some restrictions.

"If there is something defamatory or is a lie, there is a right for anybody to sue.

"Whether it is appropriate to sue or not under the circumstances is up to the client," he told Malaysiakini when contacted last night.

He was asked to comment on the criticism against him and his firm Bon Advocates after one of the firm’s lawyers New Sin Yew filed the defamation suit against The Malaysian Insider at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

Among others, the news portal is accused of running a series of articles seen as an "anti-Khalid" campaign, including questioning the menteri besar’s out-of-court settlement over a RM70 million Bank Islam loan and his handling of the controversial Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex).

In response, TMI editor Jahabar Sadiq ( right ) stood by the commentaries and said the news portal had tried to cover all sides of the issue, including an unsuccessful attempt to arrange an interview with Khalid.

Bon and New both received brickbats on social media when news of the suit broke.

'Assault on free press'

Meanwhile, NGO Lawyers for Liberty tweeted that while Khalid is entitled to appoint any lawyer, the defamation suit against TMI has a "serious chilling effect" on the press.

"You know very well this is not a criminal defence issue, so don't compare with defending terrorists, murderers, et cetera. This is (an) assault on free press.

"Why can't Khalid respond to TMI like any other politician or elected representative instead of filing a defamation suit?

"TMI is not ( Utusan Malaysia ) or TV3, surely as co-founder of (the legal blog) LoyarBurok and a human rights advocate, you can’t claim that (Khalid) suing TMI is just a professional job."

In response to his critics, Bon ( left ) tweeted a reference to the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which the UN adopted in 1990.

"Lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions," the document said under Principle 18.

Asked why not exercise the right of reply to respond to allegations made by TMI, Bon said the right of reply is not a license to spread falsehood.

"When somebody doesn’t reply to you, then you take it to him and attack him politically.

"But you don't create lies or falsehoods. That story has no basis," he told Malaysiakini .

Later that night, Bon published another series of tweets responding to his critics and questions regarding allegations of assault on press freedom, among others.

One of the questions he responded to was whether the articles were indeed lies, since a statement can only be defamatory if it is untrue.

"We have taken instructions, that’s (what) our client pleaded (to the) case. We will argue that in court. Let us see, our client may lose or win," he replied.

He said the burden is now on TMI to justify its articles in court, since it has refused to retract them.