KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has ordered Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) senior lecturer Dr Kamarul Zaman Yusoff to pay RM400,000 in damages to Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh in a defamation suit over the former's Facebook posting in 2017.
Justice Aliza Sulaiman made the ruling in favour of Yeoh after finding that the politician had proven her case on a balance of probabilities.
"So, in sum, I am satisfied that the plaintiff has discharged the burden of proving on a balance of probabilities that the first and second publications are defamatory to the plaintiff," she said here on Friday (May 30).
Kamarul had posted a statement on his Facebook titled "Hannah Yeoh: Contoh Hipokrasi Terbesar DAP" on May 10, 2017, and a police report "Laporan Polis Saya Terhadap Hannah Yeoh" on May 17, 2017.
The defendant had contended that he was referring to DAP in his first publication on May 10, but did not raise a similar argument in respect to the second publication on May 17.
The court found that both publications had indeed referred to Yeoh.
Justice Aliza also rejected the defendant's defences of justification, fair comment and qualified privilege after finding that the defendant failed to establish the defences.
The court awarded Yeoh RM200,000 in general and aggravated damages for each of the publications and a RM80,000 costs to be paid by the defendant to Yeoh.
She also ordered an injunction to be issued restraining the defendant, his servants or agents from publishing the impugned words or anything similar to the words.
In an immediate statement to the press, Kamarul, who was absent from the proceedings, said he respected the court's decision but disagreed with its findings.
"I will be filing an appeal to the Court of Appeal in the near future to challenge this decision on its facts and law," he said.
In the suit filed in 2022, Yeoh claimed that Kamarul Zaman made two Facebook posts between May 10 and 17, 2017, where he alleged that she had a motive to proselytise Christianity through her politics.
The lecturer also cited Hannah's biography as driving a Christian agenda and claimed that she intends to convert Malaysia into a Christian country.
In his statement of defence, Kamarul Zaman said his two Facebook posts were not defamatory and were justified.
He said that as a lecturer and a Muslim, he must inform the people of the book's contents for fear that Christianity may influence them.
