Zambry wins ruling in RM100m suit against PKR's Suara Keadilan

Zambry said he had not been barred from entering the US, as depicted by Suara Keadilan. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir today obtained a judgment in his RM100 million suit over an article published by Suara Keadilan, the monthly newspaper of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

High Court Senior Assistant Registrar Noordura Mohamad Din allowed Zambry’s application to get the judgment on certain parts in the defendants’ statement of defence after hearing the submissions of both parties in chambers.

Zambry’s counsel Firoz Hussein Jamaluddin told reporters that the court would assess the damages later.

The Perak MB had applied to enter judgment under Order 27 (Rule 3) of the Rules of the High Court 1980 following an admission by the defendants in their statement of defence.

Firoz Hussein told reporters that the defendants had admitted that the words “Zambry denied entry to US on suspicion of being terrorist” in its December 29, 2009 to January 5, 2010 edition were false and baseless.

He said the court set November 29 for both parties to argue before a judge over the other meaning of defamatory words stated in Zambry’s statement of claim.

In the suit filed on February 25, Zambry named Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in her capacity as an office bearer of PKR, the party’s deputy president, Dr Syed Husin Ali, as the chief editor of Suara Keadilan, the publisher of the newspaper, Pelita Koridor Sdn Bhd, and the printer of Suara Keadilan, Percetakan NPK Sdn Bhd, as the defandants.

Zambry, in his statement of claim, said the article published by the monthly Suara Keadilandated December 29, 2009, titled “Zambry Disyaki Pengganas — Gagal masuk ke Amerika Syarikat (Zambry Suspected as Terrorist — Fails to Enter United States)” contained defamatory words which were false, baseless and were maliciously published.

He said he was not denied entry into the United States and did in fact enter the US and was duly accorded recognition of his status as the Perak mentri besar.

He contended that his visit to the US was widely reported in the media and that the defendants had intentionally published the defamatory words.

He is seeking RM100 million in damages, including aggravated and exemplary damages, interest of eight per cent per annum and also an injunction to restrain the defendants from further publishing the defamatory words or any similar defamatory words against him.

The defendants, in their statement of defence, stated that an apology titled “Mohon Maaf Dr Zambry (Sorry Dr Zambry)” and withdrawal of the said article were published in the newspaper dated March 30 this year.

All the defendants were represented by counsel Ranjit Singh. — Bernama