KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has found blogger Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, better known as Papagomo, liable for defaming former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng and his son, Clint Lim Way Chau, over claims involving an alleged cash seizure at Singapore’s Changi Airport.
Justice Roslan Mat Nor allowed the defamation suit filed by Lim and Clint against Wan Muhammad Azri and ordered the defendant to pay RM200,000 in damages to Lim and RM80,000 to Clint.
The court also awarded RM30,000 and RM10,000 in costs to Lim and Clint, respectively, to be paid by Wan Muhammad Azri.
On Oct 15, Lim and Clint filed the lawsuit, claiming that the defendant had posted on his Facebook page a purportedly defamatory statement alleging that the second plaintiff (Way Chau) was detained at Singapore's Changi Airport on Feb 29, 2020, for bringing in RM2mil in cash without a proper declaration.
They claimed that the statement, which was posted on March 14, 2020, had been read by the public, received about 2,900 "Likes," comments from 416 Facebook users, and was shared by 315 people on the same day.
The plaintiffs said in their statement of claim that the second plaintiff was not even at Changi Airport on the date and time stated in the defamatory post.
In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs contended that, at all material times, the defendant, an Umno Youth executive council member, was also known as Papagomo and owned the Facebook account "Papa Azri."
In his statement of defence, Wan Muhammad Azri denied having posted or published any statements defamatory to the plaintiffs on his Facebook page.
More to come
