Lim vs FZ case: Witness could not locate email sent by MACC

GEORGE TOWN: A news editor with Malay Mail Online (MMO) told the court today that he could not locate the original statement sent by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) which was sent to him via email.
Justin Ong, 40, who was then an assistant editor with MMO said he may have deleted the email containing the statement as journalist were required to delete their email in order to free up space in the system.
He also denied being selective in deleting the email that contained the statement.
"I may have deleted it because I was not able to locate the statement sent to us by MACC," he said.
He said the written article by MMO on Jan 3, 2014 titled 'MACC rubbishes report of probe on Penang CM's Mercedes' was written based on the statement sent to him via email.
Ong however said he did not run the story on the subsequent statement sent by MACC via email on Jan 5, 2014 because the content was similar.
"The second statement stated that it repeats (mengulangi) the original statement, we believe that the article on Jan 3 was sufficient enough to explain the situation as it stood, that is why we did not run it," he said.
Ong was testifying as a plaintiff witness in the legal suit by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who is suing the now defunct news portal FZ Sdn Bhd, and its managing editor Terence Fernandez, over an article published on Jan 3, 2014, titled "MACC begins probe on Merc purchase".
Earlier he was asked on discrepancies in the original statement by MACC sent to the court as evidence in the case during cross-examination by counsel Raja Eileen Soraya Raja Aman.
Lim claimed the article painted him as corrupt, dishonest, of no calibre, untrustworthy, and not fit to be a leader in Penang and Malaysia.
The chief minister was represented by Datuk N. Mureli while Raja Eileen and Amanda Loh acted for FZ and Fernandez.
Trial continues on Friday.