Mahathir Mohamad's defamation lawsuit against Far Eastern Economic Review
Mahathir Mohamad's defamation lawsuit against Far Eastern Economic Review was a legal case that took place between Malaysia's fourth Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, and the English-language magazine Far Eastern Economic Review from 1987 to 1991. This lawsuit was related to the magazine's reporting on Malaysia's government purportedly intending to sell Limbang to Brunei. Both parties reached an out-of-court settlement in March 1991, with the magazine agreeing to publish an apology notice and pay a settlement fee of five thousand ringgit as the resolution.[1]
Suit[edit]
On 11 August 1987, the then-Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, in his personal capacity as Prime Minister, filed a lawsuit through the Attorney General's Chambers against the Far Eastern Economic Review and its editors, alleging defamation and seeking compensation for damages. This legal action stemmed from an article published in the magazine on May 20 of the same year, which reported that the Malaysian government was considering selling the Limbang region to Brunei. The report suggested that Mahathir's two-day visit to Brunei in March of that year was primarily to discuss whether it was possible to sell a substantial forested area belonging to the adjacent Malaysian state of Sarawak to Brunei. This land, known as Limbang, currently divides Brunei's territory like a "wafer." Limbang occupies half of the relatively sparsely populated 8,000 square kilometers of the fifth-largest province in Sarawak. Limbang was separated from the Sultanate of Brunei in the early 20th century. The article stated that if the land transaction were successful (with an initial price starting at $6 billion), Brunei's territory would nearly double.
In his lawsuit, Mahathir asserted that on 21 May 1987, the magazine published on its tenth page, in the "Intelligence" section, a text about him in his capacity as Prime Minister with the headline "Sarawak sale?" The lawsuit claimed that the ordinary and natural meaning of the above text was an accusation that the plaintiff:
- Engaged in an unconstitutional and secretive practice, attempting to sell part of Sarawak's land to Brunei.
- Devised a plan, involving false statements about the purpose of the visit to Brunei, to achieve this goal.
- Was unfit to hold the position of Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Out-of-court settlement[edit]
On 8 March 1991, Mahathir and the Far Eastern Economic Review reached an out-of-court settlement, with the defendants agreeing to publish a retraction and an apology notice in the next issue of the magazine, along with paying a settlement fee of fifty thousand ringgit.[2] On March 9, Mahathir issued a statement stating that, since he had already achieved his goal in suing the Far Eastern Economic Review by seeking the truth, he agreed to an out-of-court settlement with the magazine.[3][4]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Review to apologise to PM over article". The Star. 1991-03-09.
- ↑ "Saman: FEER minta maaf kepada Mahathir". Berita Harian (in Bahasa Melayu). 1991-03-09. Missing or empty
|url=(help) - ↑ "Mahathir: I just wanted to seek the truth". The Star. 1991-03-10.
- ↑ "Laporan FEER berhubung Limbang tak berasas - Mahathir". Berita Harian (in Bahasa Melayu). 1991-03-10.
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