The New Straits Times has
apologised to Australian senator Nicholas Xenophon over a report which
claimed he made an anti-Islam speech in Australia's Parliament in 2009.
In a statement today published on NST's website, the daily said that it had made a "grave error" in publishing the statements in the article.
"We accept that in his speech in the Australian Parliament referred to in the article, Mr Xenophon did not use the word 'Islam' and neither did he assert that Islam is not a religious organisation but a criminal organisation hiding behind its religious belief.
"For the above reason, we hereby retract all the statements contained in the article against Mr Xenophon and unreservedly and unconditionally apologise to him for any distress or embarrassment caused by the article.
"As a further mark of our contrition, we have also removed the article from our online version of the newspaper with immediate effect," read the statement.
In an article titled Observer under scrutiny, the NST reports that Xenophon had told Australia's Parliament the following:
"What we are seeing is a worldwide pattern of abuse and criminality. On the body of evidence, this is not happening by accident; it is happening by design. Islam is not a religious organisation. It is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs."
The article also claimed that Xenophon supported same sex marriages.
However, the Sydney Morning Herald in a report today Xenophon did not utter the word "Islam" and that the subject of his criticism was in fact scientology.
The SMH reported that the word "scientology" was replaced with "Islam" in the NST report in order to discredit Xenophon, who is a friend of PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.
"He told the SMH last night that the word switch was an example of the kind of dirty tricks the ruling party employs and had used against (Anwar)," read the report.
Xenophon was among several foreign observers at the Bersih 3.0 rally. He was highly critical of the local media coverage and police reaction to the rally participants.
He was part of a international seven-member team who were on a three day fact-finding mission on Malaysia's electoral system. They were commissioned by Anwar, as Parliamentary opposition leader.
In a statement today published on NST's website, the daily said that it had made a "grave error" in publishing the statements in the article.
"We accept that in his speech in the Australian Parliament referred to in the article, Mr Xenophon did not use the word 'Islam' and neither did he assert that Islam is not a religious organisation but a criminal organisation hiding behind its religious belief.
"For the above reason, we hereby retract all the statements contained in the article against Mr Xenophon and unreservedly and unconditionally apologise to him for any distress or embarrassment caused by the article.
"As a further mark of our contrition, we have also removed the article from our online version of the newspaper with immediate effect," read the statement.
In an article titled Observer under scrutiny, the NST reports that Xenophon had told Australia's Parliament the following:
"What we are seeing is a worldwide pattern of abuse and criminality. On the body of evidence, this is not happening by accident; it is happening by design. Islam is not a religious organisation. It is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs."
Xenophon: Attempt to discredit me
The article also claimed that Xenophon supported same sex marriages.
However, the Sydney Morning Herald in a report today Xenophon did not utter the word "Islam" and that the subject of his criticism was in fact scientology.
The SMH reported that the word "scientology" was replaced with "Islam" in the NST report in order to discredit Xenophon, who is a friend of PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.
"He told the SMH last night that the word switch was an example of the kind of dirty tricks the ruling party employs and had used against (Anwar)," read the report.
Xenophon was among several foreign observers at the Bersih 3.0 rally. He was highly critical of the local media coverage and police reaction to the rally participants.
He was part of a international seven-member team who were on a three day fact-finding mission on Malaysia's electoral system. They were commissioned by Anwar, as Parliamentary opposition leader.
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