KUALA LUMPUR - The Bar Council and its president Karen Cheah Yee Lynn maintained that their controversial press statement issued while the appeal of the SRC International Case -- implicating former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak -- was still ongoing was factually correct and a fair comment.
This was the theme of their statement of defense, filed on November 7, after being sued for libel and defamation by lawyers Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, Liew Teck Huat and Rueben Mathiavaranam.
The trio argued that the Bar and Karen had, through their then-statement, abused and defamed the justice system which was handling Najib's final appeal at the Federal Court.
In the 33-page defence statement, the defendants clarified that the press release titled 'Abuse of Process Brings Disrepute to Our Justice System' is in the nature of public interest.
"In fact, they insisted the contents of the statement were related to the administration of justice and the level of legal profession in the country.
"It is also our opinion about the actions of the plaintiff in carrying out the former prime minister's appeal case.
"In addition, we have an obligation or interest to publish a press release on the website, to our members and the public," the defendant said.
The defendant added that the facts in the press release were published without malicious intent in accordance with Section 42 of the Legal Profession Act 1976 (LPA).
"The statement was not in the form of condemning, judging or making any finding of wrongdoing regarding any misconduct on the part of the plaintiff.
"It is not up to us to decide whether there is any misconduct by a defence attorney and solicitor," they said.
The plaintiff in a document in response to the defence filed on November 29, said the statements made by the two defendants were not in the form of opinions but were slanderous.
The plaintiff claimed that the publication of the defendant's words was motivated by malice as it was not only exaggerated but were baseless and untrue.
"The criticism presented by the defendants in the press release and the media was degrading.
"It was also an all-out-attack on the position and professional reputation of the plaintiffs," they said.
The claim statement filed on Sept 30, stated the three plaintiffs claimed on Aug 19, the second defendant had wrongfully and maliciously published a press release on the first defendant's official website and the statement was also published by The Edge Markets, Malay Mail and The Star.
They claimed the press release among other things meant they had abused the court process and committed professional misconduct by accepting cases from Najib and should face the due process for bringing down the dignity of legal profession.