By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Oct 20: In the defamation suit by Sarawak Federation of Chinese Associations president Dato Richard Wee against Democratic Action Party’s (DAP) Michael Kong over an allegedly defamatory Facebook post on July 21, 2020, the defendant said the post was published without any malice and he has no personal issue with the plaintiff.
Kong disagreed with Wee’s counsel Shankar Ram Asnani when asked whether the said Facebook post was published to instigate or incite issues against Wee.
He said, as he had stated in his witness statement, the said post was published without any malice.
He stressed that he has no personal issue against the plaintiff and therefore has no reason to want to instigate or incite issues against the plaintiff.
He also denied that his Facebook post contained malicious falsehood against the plaintiff.
Kong disagreed that he had made the assumption that Wee was going to stand as a candidate for Sarawak United
Peoples’ Party (SUPP) for the then upcoming 12th Sarawak Election in N9 Padungan and took it as a “threat” to DAP and therefore posted the said Facebook post to damage and discredit Wee’s reputation at the start.
Kong said he did not know whether the plaintiff is an SUPP party member and there were no background facts which indicated that the plaintiff will be standing as a candidate for SUPP in Padungan. Therefore, he did not and could not have made such an assumption.
He further said he has never seen the plaintiff as a “threat” to DAP, saying the plaintiff has all the rights to stand for elections if the plaintiff thinks that he is capable to articulate, debate and push for agendas for the general public’s benefit.
He said if Wee is a good candidate which is a right fit for the people, then the ultimate beneficiary of his ability would be the people and DAP welcomes challenges in all forms.
Both parties had finished examining and Kong was released as the fourth witness for the defense.
High Court Judge Alwi Abdul Wahab ordered parties to file and serve submissions simultaneously by November 21, 2022 and parties to reply within two weeks, to be filed and served simultaneously by December 5, 2022. Clarification is fixed for December 9, 2022.
Wee is represented by counsels Shakar Ram, Yu Ying Ying and Russel Lim whereas Kong is represented by counsels Chong Siew Chiang, Chong Chieng Jen and Sim Kiat Leng. — DayakDaily
