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Kalimullah takes the stand against Matthias

Posted: 09 Nov 2011 11:22 PM PST

2011/11/10
By Jennifer Gomez
news@nst.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: The former deputy chairman of New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad, Datuk Seri Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan took the stand today in his defamation suit against lawyer Matthias Chang, the former political secretary to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Kalimullah, 53, testified that he filed the suit case against Chang in 2006 as the defendant had allegedly made damaging and baseless statements against him at a press conference which were published in the media.

Chang also filed a counter-claim suit.

Kalimullah, dressed in a light grey suit, told the court yesterday that the article based on Chang's press conference on June 13 was written and published in the Singapore Straits Times by its then Malaysian correspondent, Leslie Lau.

He also testified that according to the article, Chang had allegedly said that Kalimullah was corrupt, and that he, together with the then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin, were the powers behind the throne.

"He also said that I am a coward and that I had used my position then as deputy chairman of NSTP to demonise Tun Mahathir.

"He said that I am a cobra doing work of our enemies and that I am a traitor and that he will spit on the face of those Malays who showed disrespect to Tun Mahathir," he said.

Kalimullah, during questioning by his lawyer Prakash Menon, also said that after the article was published, he kept getting calls and enquiries from friends and business associates wondering if there was any truth to the statements against him.

Asked if the article had adversely affected him, Kalimullah said: "It had caused embarrassment to me and my family and injured my reputation, character and my credibility was questioned."

When asked if he was a Abdullah loyalist, the witness responded: "He has been my friend for more than 20 years and I am loyal to my friends".

Kalimullah was also asked about alleged corrupt practices involving ECM Libra, for which he is the non-executive chairman.

Prakash: The defendant in his defence had alleged that you aided and abetted corrupt practice in the transaction between ECM Libra and abetted corrupt practice in the transaction between ECM Libra and the once Ministry of Finance-controlled Avenue Capital Resources Bhd. What do you have to say
to that?

Kalimullah: It is absolute nonsense and again a baseless allegation. The defendant obviously does not know the facts and the transaction. The transaction was sanctioned by the Ministry of Finance and all the necessary approvals were given before it was finalised. The government shares in the company were

sold to Tan Sri Azman Hashim after which he became the single largest shareholder of ECM Libra. I did not buy the Ministry of Finance-owned shares.

Kalimullah added that the respective regulatory bodies such as the Securities Commission and Bursa Malaysia gave the necessary approvals and that if there were corrupt practices, the approvals would not have been given.

Earlier, Lau, the first witness, who is now the executive editor of online news portal Malaysian Insider, told the court that in the Press conference in June 2006, Chang launched a "blustering and often rambling attack against Khairy and Kalimullah".

When asked to describe Chang's manner in the press conference, Lau said: " He was very dramatic, fiery, loud and shouting challenges, at mainly Khairy and Kalimullah.

"He even had five holy books in front of him including the Bible and the Quran, and he swore that he was speaking the truth for Dr Mahathir."

When questioned by Chang's lawyer Datuk R.K. Nathan, Lau, 40, said he could not make a judgement on whether Chang truly believed what he was saying at the press conference.

Nathan: Was Matthias passionate about what he said?
Lau: He was dramatic.
Nathan: Did he believe what he spoke?
Lau: I make no judgement on that.
Nathan: When he spoke loudly and swore on the holy books, it meant he believed his cause?
Lau: I do not know.

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No age limit for 'winnable candidate', says Najib

Posted: 09 Nov 2011 11:18 PM PST

No age limit for 'winnable candidate', says Najib

PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today the term 'winnable candidate' used in the 13th general election refers to candidates who can win irrespective of their age or the number of terms they had served as elected representatives.

Acknowledging that the coming general election would be tough, the Prime Minister said what was important was that the individual nominated would be the
best candidate for the Barisan Nasional (BN).

"Winnable candidates can refer to anyone, regardless whether he or she is
young or old, there is no age limit, there is no limit on the number of times he
or she has become an elected representative. The bottom line is that he or she

is a winnable candidate.

"It is immaterial if people say he or she is a recycled candidate. Of utmost

importance is that he/she is a winnable candidate because we want the BN to win
handsomely in the coming general election," he said when delivering his message
at the gathering with members of the Malaysian Council of Former Elected
Representatives (Mubarak) at Seri Perdana, here today.

Also present were Mubarak president Datuk Seri Abdul Aziz Rahman and Mubarak

information chief who is also Bernama Chairman, Datuk Abdul Rahman Sulaiman. - Bernama

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No age limit for 'winnable candidate', says Najib

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Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Rabu, 9 November 2011