KUALA LUMPUR: The Penang High Court has fixed Sept 2 to hear a defamation suit between three DAP top brass against Kepala Batas member of parliament Siti Mastura Mohamad over her allegations regarding familial relations between several party leaders with Chin Peng and the late Lee Kuan Yew.
Party stalwart Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang, its chairman Lim Guan Eng, as well as vice-chairman Teresa Kok filed a separate suit against the Pas lawmaker at the George Town High Court on Nov 27, last year.
Chin Peng, whose real name is Ong Boon Hua, was the former Malayan Communist Party leader and Lee was the former Singapore Prime Minister.
Counsel Datuk Sankara Nair who appeared for the plaintiffs said Judge Datuk Quay Chew Soon fixed the date as well as Sept 3, 17, 18, 19 and 20 for the trial during case management today.
He said counsel Mohamad Hakim Faharmi Hassan appeared for the defendant.
"The court also fixed May 15 for parties to update on the status of filing of the pretrial documents," he said.
The trio in their suit claimed the impugned statements were defamatory, slanderous, false and disparaging to the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs asserted that the impugned statement, which claimed they were affiliated with the proscribed and defunct Malayan Communist Party also depicted that they espouse, ascribe and propagate communist ideologies and philosophy in the county.
The plaintiffs contended that the impugned statements depicted that Islam, the nation and the future of the country is perpetually threatened by the Lims (Kit Siang and Guan Eng), who are ostensibly a cousin or a relative of Ching Peng respectively.
"The impugned statements also portrayed that the Lim clan's agenda is to form a 'kadre' (cadre) system, a terminology commonly used in the communist party structure by the Lim family and DAP to further propagate communist ideologies and philosophy in the country.
"Mastura's actions are clearly motivated and actuated by subterfuge, bad motives and malicious intentions.
"The impugned statements are premeditated and intended to seriously disparage, taint, harm, defame, and tarnish the plaintiffs' reputation," claimed the plaintiffs.
The trio is seeking general, compensatory, aggravated, exemplary damages as well as a court order to retrain the defendant from further uttering, writing or publishing the impugned statements.
Mastura, during one of the programmes in Kemaman, Terengganu, reportedly said the former finance minister and several DAP leaders had ties with Chin Peng and Lee.