Universiti Utara Malaysia lecturer Kamarul Zaman Yusoff failed in his appeal in a defamation suit against former Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court denied the academic’s appeal during online proceedings this afternoon.
The defendant’s counsel Faiz Fadzil confirmed to the media the outcome of appeal proceedings before judicial commissioner Latifah Mohd Tahar.
The lawyer said the court found that the article written by appellant Kamarul (above) raised issues of religion and race, therefore Khalid has a basis for his (Khalid) fair comment over the article.
Malaysiakini is attempting to reach out to the plaintiff’s counsel Mohd Harris Mohan Abdullah over the matter.
On April 29 last year, the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur dismissed Kamarul’s civil action against Khalid.
Judge Zulqarnain Hassan ruled that Khalid succeeded in raising the defence of fair comment.
The lower court ordered the lecturer to pay RM10,000 in costs.
Kamarul was represented by Harris while Faiz represented Khalid.
Kamarul vs Yeoh
In July 2020, Kamarul filed a lawsuit against Khalid in July 2020 over the Amanah communications director’s opinion piece carried by a website.
Published in May 2017, the article was a response to Kamarul’s critique of Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh’s book, “Becoming Hannah: A Personal Journey”.
The academic and Yeoh, who is now the youth and sports minister, also have filed defamation suits against each other linked to the allegation that she was driving a “ Christian agenda” via her book.
Last year, the media reported that the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur struck out Kamarul’s other defamation action against seven DAP leaders, due to alleged non-compliance with the judge’s directive.
In 2020, the media reported the academic filing multiple lawsuits against several DAP leaders over comments regarding his lodging a police report in 2017 against Yeoh in relation to the “Christian agenda” claim. - Mkini
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