‘I had no idea if complaints were true’

KUALA LUMPUR: Though MalaysiaKini was willing to report Raub residents’ complaints against the nearby gold mine’s activities, its editor-in-chief admitted in the High Court that he had no idea if the statements were true.

“That’s why the word ‘alleged’ is a key point. It’s standard practice for journalists to use this word when we have no idea if a claim is true or not,” Steven Gan, 53, said when testifying in Raub Australian Gold Mining Sdn Bhd’s defamation suit against MKini Dotcom Sdn Bhd over three articles that quoted statements by residents of Bukit Koman, Raub.