KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 — Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) settled out of court today a suit against them by Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir over allegedly defamatory article and pamphlets distributed in 2013.
The two parties reached an agreement after a six-hour mediation session that ended with Isma deputy president Aminuddin Yahaya reading aloud a statement that stopped short of an apology for the impact its publication allegedly had on the prominent activist and daughter of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“We realise the position of [Marina] as a community leader who fights for current issues in and out of the country with transparency and with people’s respect,” Aminudin read aloud from the consent order in front of High Court judge Datuk Noraini Abdul Rahman.
“We express our regret if the article or pamphlet have caused any difficulties or adverse effects to Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir and gave the wrong image of Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir as a liberal and anti-Islamic mastermind.”
Aminuddin was representing the 14 defendants made of Isma’s office bearers.
Marina filed the suit against Isma in February last year, after the conservative Islamist group published an article published on its website claiming the activist was the mastermind behind The Coalition of Malaysian NGOs in the UPR Process (Comango) that was seeking to legalise unnatural sex, the right for Muslims to leave the faith, and the abolishment of Malay rights.
Isma had also distributed 70,000 leaflets in November 2013 containing the same allegations.
Speaking to reporters outside of the court, Marina expressed her relief that the ordeal was over and she had at least gotten the basic things that she wanted out of the settlement.
“We had drafted a much longer apology that was much more specific, but we did everything we could to meet them halfway,” she said.
“In the end we got the basic things that we wanted but it is disappointing that it was so difficult to get here.”
She added that as a group claiming to defend Islam, Isma should not have resorted to name-calling and accusations in airing differences of opinion.
“In Islam, defamation is really a terrible thing, it is considered a big sin. Slander is considered worse than murder.”
“If anyone who considers themselves a devout Muslim, I hope they rethink and consider several times before they call people names, especially that infringes on their faith,” she said.
