KUALA LUMPUR – Pertubuhan Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah Malaysia president Zamihan Mat Zin today failed in his defamation suit against Perlis Mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin.
High court judicial commissioner John Lee Kien How @ Mohd Johan Lee dismissed Zamihan’s suit against Asri filed in July 2019, saying that the plaintiff failed to prove the publication of defamatory statements against him through the two articles in question because he did not present witnesses to confirm the defendant’s remarks.
“The two articles cannot be referred to and considered by the court, therefore there is no evidence to confirm the publication of the articles,” he said during online proceedings for the case.
Lee said Zamihan claimed that the defendant had provided statements to reporters who proceeded to write and publish the articles, adding that the authors of the articles should have been called to confirm that they had written said articles for the publications to be accepted, referred to, and considered by the court.
“Unfortunately, the plaintiff did not call the witnesses to prove the existence of the articles,” he said, adding that he dismissed the claims with an order of RM40,000 as to costs.
The proceeding was attended by Zamihan, who was unrepresented, and Asri as well as his two lawyers, Faizal Rahman and Fatima Zulaikha Ahmad Bashri.
The trial took place for six days beginning July 4 with the plaintiff calling three witnesses and the defendant six witnesses.
In his statement of claim, Zamihan said Asri issued defamatory statements against him twice through an article titled “Bukan Perlis Sahaja” published on October 14, 2018, and at a forum titled “Siapa Pengganas & Potensi Salahguna Kuasa” at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre on February 9, 2019.
The plaintiff claimed that Asri’s remarks were published on the Malaysiakini news portal and that the defamatory statements directly refer to his career and position, imply that the plaintiff has no integrity and is a liar, and also mislead the public.
Zamihan sought for general damages of RM2 million, aggravated damages, exemplary damages, an apology from the defendant, and other reliefs deemed appropriate by the court. – Bernama, September 30, 2022
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