The defamation suit filed by PAS MP Khalid Samad against a pro-Umno blogger has been settled, with the latter agreeing to publish his apology in PAS media organ Harakah and his blog.

The blogger, Dr Novandri Hasan Basri, who goes by the moniker Dr MiM, has also agreed to an undisclosed settlement, said Khalid’s lawyer Hanipa Maidin.

“The case was supposed to be heard in the Penang High Court today but we managed to settle it with an apology and an out-of-court settlement,” he added.

Hanipa said Khalid, the Shah Alam MP, had sued the blogger last year for an article he wrote on his blog on Jan 15, 2010 entitled ‘Penjarakan Khalid Bishop Samad’ (‘Jail Khalid Bishop Samad’).

In the posting, Khalid, who is also a PAS central working committee member, was featured in a caricature carrying a crucifix.
Hanipa said that Dr Novandri must make his apology within 24 hours of the court settlement.

According to Harakah, Dr Novandri's apology is as follows:

“I, Dr Novandri Hasan Basri, would like to very sincerely apologise and withdraw all the defamatory words and pictures against YB Haji Khalid bin Abd Samad, as found in the article titled ‘Penjarakan Khalid Bishop Samad’ that was published on the blog http://novandri. blogspot.com on 15/1/2010. I also regret any wrongdoing and want to apologise to YB Haji Abdul Khalid bin Samad for the post. I promise to stop and will not repeat that publication and those words in future.”