A TV3 journalist in a defamation suit by Anwar Ibrahim, told the court today it was not his job to verify information before airing a news snippet. 

Selwam Arjunan, 34, told the Kuala Lumpur High Court he did not verify the accuracy of comments made by former Permatang Pauh BN candidate Mazlan Ismail, who alleged Anwar and the late Karpal Singh had bribed judges and prosecutors.

“Did you deliberately choose to publish information you knew was not verified?” asked Anwar’s lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, to which Selwam replied, “Yes”.

The former deputy prime minister also testified today at the hearing presided by Justice Faizah Jalamudin. 

Also present was Mazlan, who sat in the public gallery, along with PKR supporters. 

Anwar is suing Mazlan for alleging in a press conference in the morning of Aug 2, 2013 that the former had paid Karpal over RM50 million since 2008 to bribe judges and prosecutors. 

Mazlan, who is Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission chief operating officer, told a press conference then, he based his allegation on 6,000 copies of a poison pen letter he obtained.

The Buletin Utama report was aired the same day Mazlan made his comments. TV3 (Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Bhd) was named as a second defendant for publishing Mazlan’s remarks. 

Anwar also sued Utusan Malaysia for publishing the defamatory words on October 16, 2015.

Selwam, the station’s northern regional correspondent, was repeatedly pressed on the issue of verifying information by Sangeet during cross-examination today. 

“It is not my job to determine the truth,” he said at one point. 

Selwam, in his written statement, also said: “Given the tone, style and overall manner of the report, I did not feel the need to obtain any verification or comments from the plaintiff (Mazlan) or any other parties at the time the report was aired.”

In the TV3 news snippet, shown in court today, Mazlan was seen during a press conference holding bags containing the letters. The news snippet also highlighted portions of the letters. 

In justifying running the story without verification, Selwam said the news station has a daily news cycle and its journalists are required to meet the deadline before the news cycle ends. 

When pressed why he didn’t feel it was important to establish the veracity of the information published on TV3, Selwam replied: “We do not determine the truth.”

Asked if he agreed TV3 published without verifying the truth, Selwam replied: “It depends.”

Asked if it was common TV3 published without first verifying the truth, Selwam replied: “No” but later added: “It depends and in this case it was not.”

Sangeet asked: “You will agree with me as a journalist of TV3, is it not your job to verify the information but instead published anyway?” to which Selwam replied: “Yes”

Selwam further testified he did not ask questions at the press conference, which was attended by “four to five” reporters and he made no further enquiries or phone calls about the poison pen letter. 

He did not keep any copy of the poison pen letter obtained from Mazlan.

“(It was necessary to run the story) because it was a press conference called by Mazlan to inform us about the letters he received. 

“It was not me that invented the issue, it was the first defendant. As a broadcast journalist, we have to publish the same day,” Selwam testified. 

Earlier Selwam acknowledged Buletin Utama, the one hour prime time news programme that airs at 8pm nightly, reaches between 2.5 to 3 million viewers. 

Asked if he knew TV3 was owned by Media Prima, which in turn is Umno-controlled, Selwam replied he was not sure. 

When questioned later by Media Prima’s lawyer TH Liew what his job entailed, Selwam replied again: “It’s not my job to determine the truth. My job was to convey the contents of the press conference.”

Asked what his position was on the matter, Selwam replied he was duty bound to share the information with viewers as it was a matter of “public interest”.

Sangeet is the daughter of Karpal, who was killed in a vehicle accident on April 17, 2014. Karpal, a veteran DAP leader, was Anwar’s lead counsel in the Sodomy II trial.

Meanwhile, Anwar said Mazlan was malicious in publicising the poison pen letters which were unsigned, and of which no police report was lodged.

“There is a basis in the allegation to suggest the person has to clarify or explain (the veracity of information) otherwise you can only choose to ignore the poison letters. 

“When he requested an explanation (of the poison letters to the press), and he held the letters up, and this is clear he is indirectly admitting the statement were true. 

“In our political world, there are thousands of poison letters. People don’t demand an explanation over each and every one of them. There was no police report, no verification,” Anwar said.  

Anwar said there was “room” for Mazlan to demand information before making his public statements. 

“I know him (personally). He knows where I live and I know where he lives. (The press conference) was only to fitnah (slander),” Anwar said. 

Anwar said the editing of the TV3 headlines and stories showed intent to give a picture to the people Anwar and Kapal were involved in corruption.

“The style of news did not give the whole picture or the source of the poison letter, but to highlight the point, which is about how negative and bad Anwar and Karpal are.

“They should have reported fairly and responsibly. Fairness means giving space to the accused to defend themselves. 

“Fairness is not spreading obscene lies and slander. That is not fairness. The ethics of journalism is clear,” Anwar said.

The hearing continues on May 2. – January 25, 2018.