SHAH ALAM - Jalur Tiga Malaysia (Jati) president Datuk Dr Hasan Mohamed Ali was awarded RM300,000 in damages following the High Court finding that Shah Alam member of Parliament Khalid Abdul Samad liable for defamation.
Judge Datuk Yaakob Md Sam, who delivered an oral ruling, said that the damages were accorded after the defendant failed to present a written apology nor used any other methods to retract the defamatory statements.
"The damages were awarded since the defendant did not inform administrators of the said online portals to remove the articles...and was also based upon the plaintiff's status in society, the extent of the said articles in defaming the plaintiff and the behaviour of the defendant from the beginning till the end of this proceedings in retracting the articles."
The RM300,000 was inclusive of aggravated damages to reflect the exceptional harm done to a plaintiff in a civil wrong.
He also ordered a further payment of five per cent interest in damages from the judgment date (as of yesterday) till final settlement.
He was also awarded RM20,000 in costs.
Hasan, who is also former Selangor PAS commissioner and state executive member, filed the defamation suit in last April 12, claiming Khalid had uttered defamatory words against him at a press conference on Feb 24, last year.
Hasan claimed that Khalid, who is also the Selangor Pas deputy commissioner III, had further published the words in an article on his blog and that the reporters at the press conference had posted it on the news portals "mstar" and "Malaysiakini".
The plaintiff was represented by counsel Hasnal Rezua Merican, while defence counsel Azhana Mohd Khairudin appeared for Khalid. - NST
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