KUCHING: A former journalist apologised in the High Court here to settle a defamation suit brought against him by Batang Sadong MP Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
Joseph Tawie read out his statement of apology to Nancy in open court on Thursday (Feb 13) in front of judge Supang Lian.
He also agreed to publish the apology on his Facebook account and in two local newspapers within three days.
Joseph was apologising for defamatory Facebook posts on May 10 and 13, 2019, alleging that Nancy had directed a longhouse headman not to host a federal minister or cooperate with the Federal Government.
“I now accept the serious error in publishing the defamatory publications on my Facebook account and recognise the considerable damage that has been caused to the good reputation of Nancy and the ruling state government of Sarawak.
“I admit there is no truth or foundation to any of the allegations made and that I failed in my duties to properly investigate and ascertain the truth of the matter before publishing the defamatory words,” he said.
Nancy said she would forgive Joseph as she believed everyone should be given the opportunity to redeem themselves.
“Today, we found a new friend in each other out of this case.
“From now on, we can talk to each other if there is anything,” she told reporters after the settlement.
She also said she was happy that the matter was settled amicably as it had caused distress to her. -The Star