KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has awarded RM300,000 in damages to Seputeh MP Teresa Kok in a defamation lawsuit she filed against Sungai Besar Umno chief Datuk Seri Jamal Md Yunos over allegations of misuse of a Selangor state fund.
Judicial Commissioner Mohd Arief Emran Arifin, who ruled in favour of Kok, allowed her claims in the defamation suit filed five years ago.
"The defendant (Jamal) was also ordered to pay RM50,000 in costs to the plaintiff. The said amount must be paid within 14 days from today," he said in an open court proceeding on Tuesday (July 26).
Jamal was not present in the proceedings.
Meanwhile, Kok's lawyer S.N. Nair told the press that the RM300,000 was a "global sum" that covered general, aggravated and exemplary damages.
On April 5, 2017, Kok sued Jamal for claiming that she has misused Yayasan Warisan Anak Selangor (Yawas) for her personal gain.
Kok filed the defamation suit via Messrs S.N. Nair & Partners and named Jamal as the sole defendant.
She claimed that Jamal made a defamatory statement at a press conference on March 8, 2017, and it was published on social media and in print media locally and abroad.
She alleged that the statement, in the form of a video, was still accessible on Jamal's personal Facebook page and video sharing platform YouTube.
In the statement of claim, she said the content was republished in the Malaysiakini online news portal on March 14, 2017 under the heading "Jamal claims S'gor, FT reps used Yawas (Yayasan Warisan Anak Selangor) funds for personal gain".
Kok claimed that the words meant, among other things, that she had misused her power and acted unfairly, had abused the state government's fund and used it for personal gain, and was unethical, without principle and corrupt.
She stressed that the allegation was improper and baseless and had injured her reputation and good name.
The plaintiff sought RM1mil in general damages, compensatory damages, aggravated damages, exemplary damages, and an injunction to prevent Jamal from making further such claims in the media.
