Former MCA president Ong Tee Keat has set two preconditions for the mediation of his RM500 million defamation suit against former Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd CEO Tiong King Sing.

Ong wants Tiong to publicly apologise and retract his statement that Ong had allegedly received RM10 million from him.

Ong’s representative, lawyer Tan Foong Luen, told this to the press after case management with Tiong’s counsel in the chambers of Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Hue Siew Kheng.

On Aug 24, 2009, Ong, who is also a former transport minister, filed the suit against Tiong, the  Bintulu MP, claiming that Tiong had issued a defamatory statement about giving him RM10 million, which was published in Malaysiakini on Aug 12.

azlan Despite Ong seeking for RM500 million in the suit, Tiong stood by his words and countersued Ong for defamation, seeking RM10 million in damages.

Tan said that the judge had asked both parties to engage in mediation for both cases, and Ong had set two preconditions for this.

The Pandan MP wants Tiong to retract his defamatory statement and publicly apologise through the media, he said.

Tan also said that the judge had fixed Sept 4 for case management of both cases.

Should Tiong fail to comply with the above conditions before the date of the case management, he said, the case will officially enter the trial stage.

He added that the judge had also fixed the trial dates for July 8 to 12, 2013.

“If he (Tiong) fails to prove that he had given the money to Ong Tee Keat, then the defamation suit (against Ong) will be aborted,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bernama reports that counsel Prem Ramachandran, who acted for Tiong, said both parties had engaged in mediation previously but failed to reach an amicable solution.

“Our client’s stand is that he handed over RM10 million to Ong and he wants the money returned,” added Prem.