KUALA LUMPUR – Datin Vivy Sofinas Yusof’s defamation suit against a netizen, for allegedly libelling her on the issue of the government helping the B40 and M40 groups affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, is set for trial on August 11.
Lawyer Mohd Syakirin Syazwan, who represents Alia Najwa Hassannudin, the defendant in the suit, said the court had set August 11 and 12 for trial.
“A total of five witnesses, including my client, will testify at the trial, while the plaintiff will produce three witnesses,” he said after online case management before judge Datin Rohani Ismail today, which was also attended by lawyer Pauling Hee, representing Vivy.
On June 15 last year, Vivy, 34, filed the suit through Messrs Foong Cheng Leong & Co, naming Alia, 29, as the sole defendant.
Based on the statement of claim, Vivy said that on March 28 last year, she had posted a video on her Instagram account of a conversation between four entrepreneurs regarding Covid-19’s economic impact and the economic stimulus package announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Vivy claimed that on March 30 of the same year, Alia had posted several statements regarding Vivy on her Facebook and Instagram accounts, accusing the latter of questioning the government's aid of the B40 and M40 groups, despite their not contributing to the country’s economy.
She said that the defamatory words, among others, implied that she did not sympathise with the B40 and M40 groups and was arrogant, selfish, and unprofessional, besides giving importance to profit alone.
Vivy said the defamatory words also caused the launch of a petition on a website on April 1 to push for her dismissal from Universiti Teknologi Mara’s board of directors for insulting the said groups, and the petition has since been signed by over 230,000 Internet users.
She claimed that on April 2, a suit was issued to Alia demanding her to stop publishing any defamatory statements against Vivy on social media, and that Alia had replied to the suit through Facebook, but had failed to comply with all of Vivy's demands.
As such, Vivy is seeking general, aggravated, and exemplary damages, and an injunction for Alia to delete the defamatory words, and for her to issue a statement of apology.
In a statement of defence, filed on October 20 last year, Alia claimed that the statement she uploaded was based on actual facts from Vivy’s own post and was in the public interest.
She also denied any defamatory element in her statement. – Bernama, February 25, 2021
