A former secretary of the Kota Damansara Mosque committee told the High Court here that he never contacted Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo to verify the issue on the "azan" (call for prayer by muezzin) ban published in the Utusan Malaysia newspaper five years ago.
"Who am I to contact him (Mohamad Khir)," said Ahmad Redzuan Samsudin, 32,when questioned by lawyer Mohana Kumar T.K.B, representing Utusan Malaysia and columnist Datuk Mohd Zaini Hassan in the trial of a RM30 million defamation suit filed by Seputeh Member of Parliament Teresa Kok Suh Sim.
However, he disagreed with Mohana Kumar's suggestion that Mohamad Khir had other information on the issue which he (Ahmad Redzuan) was not aware of.
Ahmad Redzuan, who is a businessman, said that as the mosque secretary then, he had knowledge of anything that concerned the mosque, being it the only mosque in Kota Damansara.
He told the court that a police report was lodged by the mosque on Sept 10, 2008 after Utusan Malaysia published an article with the title "Ada Usaha Larang Azan di Masjid-Masjid Selangor" (There are efforts to ban the call for prayer by muezzin at mosques in Selangor) on Sept 9, 2008.
"After reading the article, members of the mosque committee held a meeting the same day (Sept 9) at night where they decided to lodge a police report to confirm that the libel (what was reported) by Utusan Malaysia in that article was false," he added.
Questioned by Mohana Kumar whether on the minute of the meeting, he said there was no none.
On Oct 9, 2008, Kok filed the suit claiming that the article had portrayed her as a person who could not be trusted, a bad politician, a racist and anti-Islam.
She contended that the article was also made widely accessible throughout Malaysia and the world through Utusan's online service, resulting in her reputation and integrity being tarnished.
The hearing before Judge Siti Khadijah S. Hassan Badjenid continues on Aug 29.
"Who am I to contact him (Mohamad Khir)," said Ahmad Redzuan Samsudin, 32,when questioned by lawyer Mohana Kumar T.K.B, representing Utusan Malaysia and columnist Datuk Mohd Zaini Hassan in the trial of a RM30 million defamation suit filed by Seputeh Member of Parliament Teresa Kok Suh Sim.
However, he disagreed with Mohana Kumar's suggestion that Mohamad Khir had other information on the issue which he (Ahmad Redzuan) was not aware of.
Ahmad Redzuan, who is a businessman, said that as the mosque secretary then, he had knowledge of anything that concerned the mosque, being it the only mosque in Kota Damansara.
He told the court that a police report was lodged by the mosque on Sept 10, 2008 after Utusan Malaysia published an article with the title "Ada Usaha Larang Azan di Masjid-Masjid Selangor" (There are efforts to ban the call for prayer by muezzin at mosques in Selangor) on Sept 9, 2008.
"After reading the article, members of the mosque committee held a meeting the same day (Sept 9) at night where they decided to lodge a police report to confirm that the libel (what was reported) by Utusan Malaysia in that article was false," he added.
Questioned by Mohana Kumar whether on the minute of the meeting, he said there was no none.
On Oct 9, 2008, Kok filed the suit claiming that the article had portrayed her as a person who could not be trusted, a bad politician, a racist and anti-Islam.
She contended that the article was also made widely accessible throughout Malaysia and the world through Utusan's online service, resulting in her reputation and integrity being tarnished.
The hearing before Judge Siti Khadijah S. Hassan Badjenid continues on Aug 29.
