KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (July 2): The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center), an anti-corruption watchdog, has apologized publicly to senior lawyer Rosli Dahlan, who is also the lead counsel for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), for defamatory online posts it made about him. Its director, Cynthia Gabriel, apologized today for the March 25 tweets and Facebook posts, which Rosli previously described as “plainly false, untrue, unwarranted, unsubstantiated, malicious, and mischievous.”
“C4 Center, an NGO that fights corruption and cronyism and advocates for a clean, competent governance system, hereby expresses its unqualified, unequivocal, and unconditional apology to lawyer Rosli Dahlan in relation to a posting made on C4 Center’s website, Facebook, and Twitter,” Cynthia said in a statement today.
“We sincerely regret making the posts,” she stated.
C4 Center also admitted that the posts were false and that they had been reproduced, republished, reposted, retweeted, and shared after they were taken down, causing them to go viral on various platforms.
“We sincerely regret that our posts inadvertently, unfairly, and seriously harmed lawyer Rosli Dahlan’s character, integrity, credit, and reputation, and that they may have eroded public trust in him.”
“We acknowledge that our posts have also exposed him to public scandal, odium, contempt, and disrepute, exposing him to hatred and ridicule, and lowering his public estimation,” she said.
Cynthia also confessed that the posts were very defamatory, untrue, and without merit, and that they had neglected to verify them, among other things.
The posts were in response to allegations made by C4 Center that he had diverted funds from the Goldman Sachs settlement to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), and then redirected some of the funds to the party for the benefit of its political interests.
“There was no basis to allege that Lawyer Rosli Dahlan profited illegally, unlawfully, unjustly, and unduly by pocketing funds in connection with the 1MDB asset recovery efforts,” the statement continued.
“We also express our deep regret for tarnishing the reputation of Lawyer Rosli Dahlan, who is described as an honest and morally upright citizen, as well as a highly professional and ethical lawyer who strives to maintain a high standard of transparency, integrity, and virtue.”
Rosli had given C4 Center a demand letter on March 29 asking RM10 million in compensation for the defamatory articles.
He noted that Bersatu had denied allegations of RM500 million in kickbacks on March 6 and March 20, but that C4 Center had continued to publish the March 25 social media posts without first verifying the matter.
Rosli also claimed that the allegedly defamatory publications constitute grave libel against him, and that he reserves the right to sue C4 Center for substantial libel damages as well as aggravated damages.
In addition to the RM10 million compensation, Rosli demanded that the posts be removed and that C4 Center issue an unequivocal public apology that be published prominently and immediately on its website, Facebook page, and Twitter account, as well as that all news portals that had published the allegedly defamatory materials do the same.
Rosli’s demands included a written apology, which she received today./n
