KUALA LUMPUR: A defamation suit filed by former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin against Sungai Besar Umno chief Datuk Seri Jamal Md Yunos has been settled out of court after the latter made a public apology at the High Court.
Jamal admitted that his allegations against the former Rembau MP were untrue, baseless and without sufficient proof.
"I regret the publishing and the spread of the statements that had caused disturbance, public humiliation and damage to the reputation, good name and credibility of Khairy.
"I therefore fully retract all the defamatory statements that I have made against Khairy in the press conference and in the said publication," he said here on Friday (May 22).
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Khairy sued Jamal on May 24, 2023 over statements made during the Umno general assembly 2022 on Jan 14 that year.
On Friday, Jamal further admitted that he falsely alleged that Khairy hired or paid delegates to jeer, and implied that Khairy was "corrupt and lacked integrity".
He also made an undertaking to immediately and permanently remove the video recording of the said press conference and any form of publication from the Facebook account "DS Jamal Yunos (DS Jamal Yunos Official)" and the TikTok account jamal_yunos to ensure that the publications were no longer accessible to the public.
Justice Anand Ponnudurai then recorded the consent judgment.
At the outset of the proceedings earlier, Khairy's lawyer Harshaan Muhammad Zamani informed the court that the parties had reached a settlement.
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This was confirmed by Jamal's lawyers Mohammed Nasser Yusof and Mohamad Fauzi Abdul Samad.
In his statement of claim, Khairy alleged that Jamal had convened a media conference at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur attended by media practitioners, Umno delegates, and several party members and leaders during the general assembly.
He claimed that Jamal uploaded a defamatory video recording titled "I hope Khairy Jamaluddin is disciplined by the Umno Disciplinary Committee after issuing careless and embarrassing statements about UMNO #UmnoDuluKiniDanSelamanya" on his Facebook and TikTok accounts on the same day.
Khairy further claimed the defamatory statements meant to imply that he was a leader devoid of integrity, unfit for leadership and disloyal to Umno and its leadership.
