[UPDATED] Santiago apologises to Zakir Naik over LTTE-linked statements

KUALA LUMPUR – Former Klang MP Charles Santiago today apologised to Islamic preacher Zakir Naik over public statements made on November 25, 2019 linked to the defunct Liberal Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militant group.

The apology follows a decision by the Kuala Lumpur High Court earlier today, which found that Santiago had defamed Zakir.

The statement was made when Santiago gave a lecture in a talk entitled “Liberation of Tamil Eelam”, which linked Zakir to the mass arrest of 12 individuals over alleged LTTE links.

The impugned statement was then published on November 26, 2019 on the Free Malaysia Today portal under the headline “Criticism of Zakir Naik may have led to LTTE arrest, says MP”.

Zakir had filed a claim for defamation against Santiago with regards to two public statements made by the defendant, which the plaintiff alleged were defamatory and had tarnished his image.

Santiago had also on August 13, 2019 issued a press statement over Zakir’s ceramah in Kelantan on August 8, 2019 entitled “The misconception of Islam by the non-Muslims”.

The court found that Santiago had not defamed Zakir in his press statement.

Judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir said the defendant did make the statements alleged and these were made in the public domain and directed towards the plaintiff.

“The court looked at the statement from the context of the circumstances it was made. 

“In view of this court, the topic itself is inappropriate in the Malaysian context as there is nothing to suggest that there is a widespread misconception of Islam by non-Muslims in Malaysia.

“The court feels this is an unnecessary topic to be debated in Malaysia,” he said.

The court noted that in the talk in Kelantan, the majority of the listeners were Muslims and agreed with the defendant that it could stir religious sentiments and cause tension among the various faiths in the country.

“The court further notes that the remarks against Malaysian Indians has transgressed the purport of the plaintiff’s topic which is of misconception against Islam.

“These remarks have no bearing on the topic and the plaintiff’s contention that the remarks were taken out of contest are misconceived.”

The court also noted that the plaintiff had also made remarks about the Malaysian Chinese.

The court agreed with the defendant’s press statement that the plaintiff’s remarks could constitute a threat to multi-racial Malaysia and noted that the plaintiff’s remarks had attracted a rebuke from the then prime minister and many other politicians.

“Finally, the defendant’s remarks that the plaintiff is sought by India on counter-terrorism allegations is borne by evidence that the Indian government tried thrice to extradite the plaintiff by asking Interpol to issue a red notice alert.”

On the defendant’s statement that the plaintiff was shunned by many countries, including the UK government, the court said this was admitted by the plaintiff himself in his speech in Kelantan.

“Similarly, the plaintiff was not welcomed in Bangladesh as reported in the news.

“It is therefore the court’s decision in this case that the defendant's statement is not defamatory and in fact is justified and a fair statement.”

Akhtar concluded that Zakir was entitled only to an apology from Santiago, not damages.

The judge then called Santiago and Zakir to come forward and asked the defendant to publicly apologise to the plaintiff over the LTTE statement.

“I apologise over the second statement,” Santiago said.

However, Santiago later told The Vibes that his apology to Zakir was not made “out of his own good will” and was instead delivered on court order.

“When the judge asked me to come forward to apologise to (Zakir), I looked to my lawyer for his advice but the judge told me that I cannot get my lawyer’s advice as I have to listen to the court order.

“I abided by the judgement since I did not want to be in contempt of the court, but it should be known that I apologised because of direction from the judge, not out of my own good will.”

Zakir said he accepted the apology.

The judge also ruled that each party is to bear their own legal costs.

Counsel Akberdin Abdul Kader represented Zakir, while lawyer S.N. Fam appeared for Santiago. – The Vibes, May 22, 2023