In his apology tendered at the High Court, Tengku Sariffuddin said he was sorry for making inaccurate statements against the Kedah menteri besar and the negative effects the statements had had on Mukhriz.
“I take back all the contents in my press statements on Mukhriz and I promise I will never repeat them again,” he said in his statement tendered in court.
Tengku Sariffuddin also congratulated Mukhriz on his reappointment as Kedah menteri besar.
Tengku Sariffuddin was to have continued his testimony in Mukhriz’s defamation lawsuit against him but both decided to settle the matter.
High Court judge Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim recorded the apology in chambers.
Mukhriz had sued Tengku Sariffuddin in 2016 over four press statements issued by the latter on April 15, 20, 23 and 26 the same year.
The press statements were titled “Prime Minister’s Press Secretary’s Statement on Donation Confirmation by Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister”, “Prime Minister’s Press Secretary’s Statement on Former DPM’s Reuters Interview”, “Mukhriz Mahathir’s Statement: Response by Prime Minister’s Press Secretary” and “Prime Minister’s Press Secretary’s Statement on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir”.
Mukhriz’s complaint was that Tengku Sariffuddin’s statements painted the impression that his father Dr Mahathir Mohamad was grooming him to become prime minister.
Throughout the trial, Mukhriz filed applications to cite Najib and former deputy transport minister Aziz Kaprawi for their statements related to the suit.
However, the court dismissed Mukhriz bids for contempt proceedings against Najib and Aziz.