Badrul Hisham Shaharin, known as Chegubard, issued a public apology to Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad today at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur, admitting that his allegations were false and baseless in a defamation suit settlement [1, 2].
The suit concerned five Facebook posts Chegubard made in December 2023, alleging corruption in a flood mitigation project. Nik Nazmi said these posts accused him of lying about an open tender and inflating the project cost to RM16.6 billion [2]. The statements were published between December 20 and 29, 2023 [2]. Nik Nazmi filed the defamation suit against Chegubard on January 15, 2024 [2].
During the hearing, Chegubard said, "I withdraw all allegations against Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad. I sincerely apologise to him for the embarrassment, hardship and distress caused. I undertake not to repeat or publish any further statements or allegations on the same matter or of a similar nature" [2].
The court recorded a consent judgment ordering Chegubard to remove all disputed statements and related online materials. Judge Gan Techiong instructed, "The defendant must publish a video apology on any of his social media accounts within 24 hours. Please comply to avoid contempt of court" [2].
Nik Nazmi accepted the apology and said he did not wish to prolong the matter [2].
Chegubard is expected to comply with the court order to publish his video apology within a day.
