KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 2): The High Court has ordered former Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy to pay a total of RM1.52 million in damages and cost for defaming controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik through five of his statements made between 2016 to 2019.

High Court judge Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz found that Zakir discharged his burden in proving the tort of defamation and that Ramasamy's defence was without merit and untenable.  

Hayatul in her decision on Thursday found that Ramasamy could not prove "the truth or appropriately justify" the publication of his statements that had defamed Zakir.

"Sans compelling evidence to establish the truth or justify the impugned defamatory statements, the defences taken by [Ramasamy] must necessarily fail.

"The animosity and malice in the unrelenting personal attacks of Dr Zakir in those impugned statements by P Ramasamy occurred and lasted from April 10, 2016 to Nov 8, 2019 [approximately three and half years]," the judge said.

Hayatul added that it was important to consider the actual words used and context of the statements. She said that after studying the background and complete facts of the case, she found that the statements issued were "undoubtedly defamatory" and "actuated by malice and anger" on the part of Ramasamy towards Zakir.

"Those impugned statements were personal attacks angled to disparage, ridicule and lower Zakir in the eyes of the general public," she said.

The judge ordered Ramasamy to pay RM1 million in general damages, RM100,000 in compensatory damages, RM100,000 in aggravated damages and RM 250,000 in exemplary damages in total for all five statements. Hayatul also ordered cost of RM 70,000.

Through his legal action, Zakir, who is an India-born preacher and a Malaysian permanent resident, had also sought an apology from the ex-DAP politician. However, Ramasamy's lawyer Razlan Hadri Zulkifli on Thursday asked for a stay as they sought to argue on whether the court has jurisdiction to order an apology after a defamation case.

Zakir's counsel Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader pointed out that an apology was one of the first reliefs sought in defamation suits but had no objections to the stay.

The court then set Dec 1 to hear submissions from parties on the matter.

Earlier, Akberdin informed the court that his client was absent as Zakir is currently in Nigeria on a speaking engagement. Zakir was also represented by Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah and Mohd Rafie Mohd Shafie.

When met outside the courtroom, Ramasamy said that he will be appealing the verdict. He was also represented by Datuk N Mureli, Navpreet Singh and Felix Lim.

Zakir had filed two separate suits — in October and December 2019 — against Ramasamy in alleging defamatory statements had been uttered against him. Both suits were heard together.

The preacher's first suit against Ramasamy pertains to four alleged defamatory statements issued between 2016 and 2019, which he claims insinuated that he was not an honest Muslim preacher in propagating the teachings of Islam and that he had committed offences in other countries.

In the other suit, Zakir sued Ramasamy in 2019 over statements linking him to the arrest of 12 individuals with alleged ties to the defunct Sri Lankan separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Zakir claimed that the statements insinuated that he had manipulated and lobbied the Malaysian authorities for his own benefit or advantage.

Among others, Zakir sought aggravated, exemplary damages and a mandatory and permanent order preventing Ramasamy from publishing any defamatory statement against him.

Ramasamy mounted a defence of justification, fair comment and qualified privilege as his statements involved public concern and interest.

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