PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and two others will appeal a court decision ordering them to pay RM2 million in damages to Felda and Felda Global Ventures (FGV) for defamation.
On Dec 5, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur ordered Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, former PKR deputy president Syed Husin Ali and journalist Rusnizam Mahat to pay RM2 million in aggravated and exemplary damages to Felda and FGV over two defamatory articles that appeared in the party newspaper Suara Keadilan.
Francis Pereira, representing Wan Azizah and the two others, confirmed that he has received instruction to file an appeal.
"We have 30 days to file the notice, and it will be filed as I have just received instructions," he said.
The defamation suit was filed over two Suara Keadilan articles published in 2010, titled "Felda Bankrap" (Felda Bankrupt) and "Bina Bangunan RM662 juta Hanya Libatkan Tiga Individu" (Only three people made the decision on RM662 million new office).
The High Court deputy registrar had initially set damages at RM70,000, which Justice Su Geok Yiam later ordered to be raised to RM2 million, because she found the earlier amount to be excessively low.
“I agree with the submission by the counsel from Felda... considering the gravity of the publication of the libellous article in calling Felda bankrupt. It would send a wrong message in regard to the defamation.
“With this, I set aside the decision by the deputy registrar and grant general and aggravated damages of RM2 million,” the judge had said, adding that the articles had affected the share prices of FGV.
It is learned that the RM2 million amount is one of the highest in recent years awarded for defamation.
The highest remains in the case between Vincent Tan and MGG Pillai in 2000, where the business tycoon was awarded RM7 million by the Federal Court.- Mkini
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