Court grants Jamal stay of RM300,000 judgment due to Kok

 

Jamal Yunos is appealing a High Court judgment handed down last year requiring him to pay RM300,000 in damages to Teresa Kok for defamation.

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has granted Umno Sungai Besar chief Jamal Yunos a conditional stay of his obligation to pay DAP’s Teresa Kok RM300,000 in damages for defamation.

Justice Yaacob Sam held there were merits in Jamal’s bid to stay the judgment pending his appeal.

Also on the panel were Justices Gunalan Muniandy and Azimah Omar.

However, the court imposed a condition that Jamal deposit the judgment sum into the client’s account of Kok’s solicitors, SN Nair & Partners, within 21 days from today.

The law firm is required to hold the judgment sum in trust pending the disposal of the appeal.

Last year, the High Court ordered Jamal to pay RM300,000 in damages to Kok, after holding him liable for defamation.

Judicial commissioner Arief Imran Arifin said Jamal’s remarks at a press conference held on March 8, 2017 were “intended to attack the plaintiff (Kok) personally and in her professional capacity as an MP and a politician”.

Jamal had claimed Kok embezzled money from the Selangor state fund, Yayasan Warisan Anak Selangor.

In her lawsuit, Kok contended that Jamal’s remarks gave the impression she had misused state funds and was an unethical person.

She later filed a bankruptcy notice against Jamal after he failed to pay up on the judgment. Jamal was required to pay the sum within 14 days from July 26, 2022.

Kok was represented by Nair and Jaden Phoon, while Rejinder Singh appeared for Jamal. - FMT