Najib, Umno drop suit against Malaysiakini

KUALA LUMPUR: After withdrawing from a couple of defamation suits, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak dropped his suit against Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd today.
Lawyer A. Surendra said the counsel for Najib applied to withdraw his case during a meeting in the chambers of judge Datuk Faizah Jamaludin.
"Counsel for plaintiff has applied to court to withdraw the entire claim, including for Umno. The claim was withdrawn with no liberty to file afresh and the court made no order to cost," he told reporters.

Najib filed the suit in his personal capacity, and Umno executive secretary Datuk Ab Rauf Yusoh on behalf of the party, against Mkini Dotcom, Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan and former chief editor Fathi Aris Omar over the readers' posts published on its website.
Gan, who was in court today, said he was thankful that this was over.
"We've been fighting this case for four years. It's good that this has finally come to an end so that we can go back to focusing on doing what we do best, which is delivering news and views that matter to Malaysians," he said.
He added that in a democracy, there was bound to be discordant voices.
"The prime minister has no business in seeking to shut down legitimate debate and discussion among netizens," he said.
Gan also thanked lawyers Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, A. Surendra, Ashok Kandiah, among others, for representing the portal pro-bono in this legal battle.
In their statement of claim, Najib and Ab Rauf claimed that the three defendants had reported, produced and allowed to be published two articles entitled "A case of the PM reaping what he sows" and "How much will Najib spend to keep Terengganu?"
They claimed that the articles were carried in the 'Yoursay' column of the www.malaysiakini.com portal on May 14, 2014.
Najib and Ab Rauf also claimed that the articles had damaged their reputations and implied that Umno was incompetent as a political party and the backbone of the Barisan Nasional.
Najib had earlier withdrawn defamation suits against Harakah and Harakahdaily, Damansara MP Tony Pua as well as former MCA president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik. The suits were mostly against allegations of misuse of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds.