Albert Demands Apology From Gagasan Leader Over Malicious Claims

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Businessperson Albert Tei demands Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan) information chief Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan apologise over claims made against the former in the media on Oct 24.
Tei was referring to Nizam’s statement, published in Free Malaysia Today, where he claimed Tei was the mastermind behind the mining scandal in the state and that he had applied for licences to mine close to one million hectares of land via 20 different companies.
Following this, Tei sent Nizam a cease and desist notice on Oct 27, issued by Abd Halim Ushah & Associates, demanding for apology and for Nizam to retract his statement and compel FMT to take down the stories from their website and social media pages.
He also demanded that Nizam offer him monetary compensation, among other demands, for the loss and damage to his reputation caused by the statement, as well as asking Nizam to provide a written undertaking not to repeat the statement or anything of a similar nature again.
“Our client (Tei) denies these statements (and) takes the position that the impugned publication has been made in bad faith.
“(The statement) was grossly inaccurate, misleading and does not reflect the true facts and is a distortion of the actual facts and circumstances,” said the document.
Tei, through his counsel, claimed that Nizam had deliberately made the statements in leveraging his official position as the assistant minister to Sabah's chief minister, as well as Gagasan spokesperson.
He added that the statements were calculated attempts to mislead the public into believing the allegations were supported or endorsed by Sabah’s government, which thereby creates an impression of official confirmation of the false allegation.
“(These statements) were made without obtaining any clarification or verification pertaining to our client’s business operation.
“(It) was recklessly derived from an erroneous understanding of the circumstances surrounding our client (and it is a) bereft of truth, vexatious, spurious and completely unwarranted.”
The firm added that they would proceed with legal action against Nizam if he did not fulfil these demands in the next seven days.
Malaysiakini has contacted Nizam for comment and is awaiting a response. - Mkini

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