Lokman Noor Adam declared that his online postings merely sought Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s clarification over serious Covid-19 vaccination claims involving public health and safety.
The former Umno supreme council member raised this defence of qualified privilege against fellow party member Khairy’s defamation suit linked to Lokman’s Facebook and YouTube uploads.
Under Malaysia’s law of civil action for defamation, qualified privilege is a defence that applies in a situation where the words were published by a person who has a legal, social, or moral duty or interest to publish it.
According to a copy of his statement of defence filed at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur yesterday and sighted by Malaysiakini, Lokman contended that the uploads were not defamatory against Khairy and were not driven by malice.
The defendant claimed that his online posts were merely seeking clarifications from the plaintiff over several allegations of public interest, such as a video allegedly showing a conversation between a man and a doctor over the issue of an expired Covid-19 vaccine intended for the man’s father.
Lokman contended that he raised the issue because an expired Covid-19 vaccine should not be handed out by health staff and that he was therefore seeking Khairy’s explanation over the truthfulness of the allegation.
‘Online posts sought clarification’
The defendant also claimed that his online posts merely sought the plaintiff’s clarification over an allegation that went viral online, about whether the latter had completed his vaccination.
Lokman, who is not only a politician but also the president of non-governmental organisation (NGO) Laskar Siber Malaysia, claimed that he actively monitors governance issues and performance of the government and authorities, as well as voices out the concerns of the people.
“This directly or indirectly is of public interest because members of the public were directed to take two vaccine doses as well as a booster shot, and various constraints were imposed on members of the public who refused to take the vaccine. In fact, even children are now directed to take the vaccine.
“The defendant was merely voicing out concerns and questions involving public interest, in relation to the health and safety of the plaintiff, in order to get explanation and answer from the plaintiff,” Lokman contended.
The defendant also cited other defences against Khairy's defamation action, such as justification and fair comment.
Justification is a defence
In a civil suit for defamation, justification is a defence that the statements or allegations are true, and if proven successful in court, this would act as an absolute defence against the legal action.
The defence of fair comment is one where the impugned statement was made as a fair comment (rather than as a statement of fact) over an issue of public interest.
In the statement of defence, Lokman also denied having received any letter of demand from Khairy prior to the filing of the defamation suit.
In his civil action, Khairy said his lawyers from law firm Rashid Zulkifli issued the legal letter to Lokman on Jan 16, demanding that the defendant removes all the alleged defamatory postings and to agree to an undertaking not to repeat similar allegations.
The plaintiff alleged that Lokman did not respond to the legal letter, which led to him filing the civil action.
Fixed for case management
According to the online cause list, the lawsuit is fixed for case management before the High Court on March 24.
Malaysiakini previously reported that Rembau MP Khairy is not just suing Lokman but also Islamic preacher Mohd Rasyiq Mohd Alwi, also known as Ustaz Abu Syafiq, over online postings that contained allegations linked to the government’s Covid-19 vaccination efforts in Malaysia.
Among these allegations are that the plaintiff purportedly acted recklessly and/or irresponsibly in the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines for the vaccination programmes in Malaysia, as well as claims linked to his Covid-19 vaccination status.
Khairy claimed that the online postings by Lokman and Rasyiq are contrary to the public interest as they purportedly undermined the government’s efforts to combat Covid-19 in the country.
Writ of summons
Through the writ of summons, Khairy is seeking general, exemplary and aggravated damages, as well as several court orders.
Among these orders are for the two defendants to take down the alleged defamatory postings; to publish a retraction and public apology to be carried in video form for 30 days on the plaintiff’s FB page and the defendants’ YouTube pages, as well as in news portals and social media accounts identified by the plaintiff.
Lokman is represented by law firm Fazilah Logen & Associates. - Mkini
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