Court of Appeal affirms RM750K award in Siti Mastura defamation case

 A three-member bench unanimously say there was no merit in her appeal.

Siti Mastura Muhammad appealed against a judgment made in favour of Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng and Teresa Kok, handed down by the Penang High Court in December 2024.

PUTRAJAYA:

 The Court of Appeal today upheld a High Court ruling ordering PAS MP Siti Mastura Muhammad to pay RM750,000 in damages for defaming three senior DAP leaders.

A three-member bench chaired by Justice Ahmad Kamal Shahid, with Justices Evrol Mariette Peters and Latifah Tahar, unanimously dismissed her appeal.

Delivering the decision, Kamal said the court found no merit in her appeal and upheld the Penang High Court’s Dec 4, 2024 judgment in full.

The panel also dismissed the trio’s cross-appeal on the quantum of damages, which they contended was inadequate.

The court made no order as to costs to both appeal and cross-appeal.

Siti Mastura was found to have defamed Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng and Teresa Kok by linking them to former Communist Party of Malaya leader Chin Peng through alleged family ties during a political speech in Kemaman, Terengganu on Nov 4, 2023.

The Penang High Court had ruled in favour of the trio, awarding RM300,000 to Kit Siang, RM250,000 to Guan Eng and RM200,000 to Kok.

Judicial Commissioner Quay Chew Soon had also ordered Siti Mastura to pay RM25,000 in costs to each plaintiff, with interest at five per cent per annum from the date of judgment. - FMT

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