Hishamuddin must compel Utusan to retract report....

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng wants the Home Ministry to compel Utusan Malaysia to retract its DAP-Christian conspiracy report and issue an apology.

Lim said the weekly state exco meeting today has decided to send a complaint to Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to urge him to initiate stern action against the Umno-owned paper for its May 7 front-page report.

The two-page letter titled 'Stern action against the false and malicious reporting by Utusan Malaysia on the purported conspiracy between the DAP and Christian pastors in Penang to establish a Christian state and to appoint a Christian prime minister' was faxed to Hishammuddin in Putrajaya today.

Lim added that the controversial report had been proven to be false following the confession by two Penang Umno assemblypersons that they did not believe the report to be true.

The duo - Hilmi Yahya (BN-Teluk Bahang) and Muhammad Farid Saad(right) - had made the confession at the state legslative assembly yesterday despite admitting that the paper was largely owned by Umno.

“The duo are the first two Umno men who stated that they did not believe in the veracity of the report, that it was false news” Lim said at a press conference in Komtar today.

“Others seem to believe it as if it were true,” he added, hinting at several ministers who commented about the report without verifying it.

Lim reiterated that the state government supported freedom of the press, but this does not extend to the “freedom to slander or lie”. He added that citizens are allowed to have differing views or even hold opinions against the state government. But this must not be based on slander or lies, he stressed.

'Unruly behaviour should not happen'

He then related an incident where a rally was allegedly held by residents against an alternative road in Bagan, which the state was planning to construct. “They rallied against me on the issue of DAP plotting to establish a Christian state... they used harsh and filty words which I cannot even mention here,” he lamented.

“This kind of unruly behaviour should not happen... this is not about freedom ... I would accept it if they had rallied against me over the road issue,” he added.

Lim, who is DAP national secretary-general, was referring to a rally on Sunday, where state Umno Youth chief Sheikh Hussein Mydin (left in striped shirt) was present while a group of 40 people interupted the road launching event in Bagan. Sheikh Hussein has denied that Umno had masterminded the rally, saying the group who protested were residents of the low-cost flats nearby.

Meanwhile, Lim expressed regret that Utusan has failed to retract and apologise over its false allegations, which the newspaper derived from unverified sources and postings in two pro-Umno blogs on Friday.

This is despite the strong denial by the DAP and Christian groups that they were in no way involved with the plot to make amend the constitution or to install a Christian prime minister.

“But since there are even Umno assemblypersons who express disbelief that the said reports, it is time for stern action be taken against Utusan as the false news can threaten religious and racial harmony,” he said.

Lim believed that the Malay daily had intentionally fabricated the conspiracy to divert attention from the rise in petrol and sugar prices.

source:malaysiakini

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