Anwar’s lawyer, N. Surendran had on Monday issued a statement saying the PKR defacto was seeking RM50 million in damages from the Umno paper over its coverage of his interview with BBC.
“We are demanding RM50 million in damages, RM50 million in exemplary damages, and RM50 million in aggravated damages.
“Why such a high figure? The allegations went international... Anwar is a well respected public figure. The high figure sends a clear message to Utusan, small figure won’t affect them,” Surendran told reporters here.
The PKR vice-president accused Utusan of distorting the contents of what Anwar had said during his interview with BBC, and that articles carried by the Malay paper quoting him as supporting homosexuality was a “complete and utter lie.”
“It’s a false statement, it’s slander... Utusan is behaving like Nazi papers, back in 1930s Germany... the attacks are against Pakatan Rakyat, to stop PR from taking over Putrajaya,” said Surendran.
He said Anwar wanted to send a message to Umno-owned mainstream media to stop “dishonest and false media reporting”.
The statement of claim issued by law firm Daim & Gamany named Utusan’s publisher, Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, and editor Datuk Abdul Aziz Ishak as defendants.
Surendran said Utusan had failed to satisfactorily reply to Anwar’s letter of demand issued on January 17.
“All they said was ‘we are looking into it’... this is not good. We wanted an apology and retraction,” added the PKR leader.
On Sunday, just days after Anwar was acquitted of sodomy, Utusan Malaysia front-paged a story titled “Anwar ulas isu gay” (Anwar discusses gay rights), claiming the opposition leader had told a BBC interview that laws on homosexuality in Malaysia were considered “archaic” and “not relevant”.
In the said interview, the BBC reporter had reportedly asked Anwar whether he was prepared to push for the idea of anti-discrimination as far as gay rights were concerned, to which he had allegedly said “we will have to review some of our archaic laws.”
“We Muslims and non-Muslims in Malaysia generally believe and are committed to support the sanctity of marriage between men and women, but we should not be seen to be punitive and consider the archaic law as relevant,” Anwar had told BBC.
According to Anwar’s letter of demand, Utusan Malaysia’s article on the issue had moved former PAS leader Datuk Dr Hasan Ali to comment on the issue. The latter’s comments were subsequently published in two articles in Utusan Malaysia titled: “Tolak Anwar — Hasan” (Reject Anwar — Hasan) and “Parasit ancam PAS, Anwar mesti ditolak” (Parasites threatening PAS, Anwar must be rejected).
In the articles, Hasan had reportedly referred to the interview when slamming Anwar for allegedly calling for homosexuality to be made legal in the country.
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