KUALA LUMPUR: Three lawyers from Zaid Ibrahim Suffian TH Liew & Partners (ZIST) have demanded that Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah Yee Lynn apologise for and retract an allegedly defamatory statement she issued regarding their conduct in Datuk Seri Najib Razak's SRC International Sdn Bhd final appeal.

In a letter of demand dated Aug 26 this year, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, Liew Teck Huat and Rueben Mathiavanam are demanding a full and unequivocal retraction and apology for the statement published and disseminated to the press entitled "Abuse of Process Brings Disrepute to Our Justice System" on Aug 19.

They alleged that the press statement, which formed the basis of news reports, "falsely and maliciously" contained statements concerning their conduct in the former prime minister's appeal in the Federal Court.

The letter also stated that several paragraphs in Cheah's press statement showed a reckless disregard as to whether the imputations conveyed by the words complained of are true or otherwise.

According to the letter, those paragraphs said that the lawyers had deliberately acted unprofessionally with an improper agenda to abuse the process of the court, that they resorted to unscrupulous strategies, and that their conduct was designed to pervert the course of justice and bring the legal profession into disrepute.


They also claimed that Cheah's statement alleged that the lawyers were unprofessional, incompetent and ignorant of the professional rules of practice and etiquette, had no compunction in abusing the process of the court, had acted in flagrant contempt of court and were not fit to practise as advocates and solicitors.

The lawyers said they would initiate legal action against Cheah if the retraction and apology were not forthcoming by Sept 2.

However, on Aug 18 Najib discharged ZIST as his solicitors.

-- BERNAMA