KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 5): The High Court on Wednesday fixed April 15 to deliver its decision on the RM2 million defamation suit filed by former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar, also known as KJ, against religious preacher Mohd Rasyiq Alwi for eight postings regarding the Covid-19 vaccination that Mohd Rasyid had made between Oct 20, 2021, and Jan 10, 2022 — at the height of the pandemic.
Judge Datuk Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Raja Mohzan fixed the date after hearing submissions from Khairy’s counsel Abdul Rashid Ismail, after the plaintiff closed its case.
“The court needs to peruse the evidence presented from the testimonies yesterday (Tuesday, Feb 4), and whether it met the three elements of defamation. Furthermore, I have to be careful, as I am also presiding over a class action suit by eight individuals against 25 people, including present and past ministers in the government over the vaccination,” the judge said.
The three main elements that have to be satisfied is that the statement is published, it is defamatory, and that it refers to the claimant — all of which KJ’s lawyers claimed they had fulfilled.
Neither Mohd Rasyiq nor his lawyer was present at the trial since on Tuesday. The defendant had informed the court that he wanted to appoint new lawyers in time for the then-trial date of Dec 3 last year, but when the day came, he failed to attend case management.
Abdul Rashid told the court that his client was seeking RM200,000 each for the eight defamatory posts, and in addition, he was seeking aggravated and exemplary damages.
“Hence, it would be a figure of RM2 million in total that my client is seeking, as the postings should be viewed separately and not as one.
“As can be seen in the defamatory posts, it not only touched on my client, but also his family, and in one of his posts, the defendant also put up a picture of KJ’s underage son, which he (Mohd Rasyid) alleged was not vaccinated, which was untrue. The court should view the posts separately, and how it had been defamatory to my client and his family,” KJ’s lawyer said.
The preacher alleged that KJ and his family had not taken the vaccine, whereas it had already been proven that they had taken it, and the former minister also took two doses of the Sinovac vaccine to dispel doubts over its efficacy.
Past cases show damages awarded separately for each posting
Abdul Rashid, who appeared with Siti Nurani Zahidi and Jacqueline Hannah Albert, said the damages sought in each posting of RM200,000 respectively was in line with other High Court decisions, for instance, in the recent Lim Guan Eng vs Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s case, and also Dr Zakir Naik vs Dr P Ramasamy.
In those cases, the counsel said the general damages were awarded separately based on postings made, and this court should take into consideration awarding damages separately for each of the eight postings.
“Furthermore, putting up the eight postings showed Mohd Rasyiq’s tone of his statement in making personal attacks on my client without verifying the veracity of the claims,” Abdul Rashid said.
There was no evidence by the defendant to justify or show that whatever statement he had made was true or otherwise, the lawyer added.
On Tuesay, Khairy in his testimony said it was utterly irresponsible to spread "inaccurate lies and falsehood" about the Covid-19 vaccination, especially when the country was facing a public health crisis, and that any accusations which were inaccurate had been challenged.
“In times of grave crisis for Malaysia and the world, it is utterly irresponsible to spread inaccurate lies and falsehood regarding vaccination. As someone who has been vested with managing a public health crisis, [I would have to dispel this].
“In times of crisis involving public health, it is important to act judiciously and quickly to implement all the (health) programmes, including vaccination,” the former health minister had said.
Former health director general Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah had also testified that the World Health Organization (WHO) had recognised Malaysia’s success in the vaccination programme, resulting in KJ being appointed the vice-chair of the WHO’s executive board representing the Western Pacific Region for 2022 to 2023. In addition, Noor Hisham himself was appointed as chair of WHO’s Standing Committee on Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (SCHEPPR).
Preacher has quite a following, and no remorse
Abdul Rashid said Mohd Rasyiq has 30,000 followers on Instagram and some 9,000 followers on Facebook, and in each of the postings made by him, there were additional defamatory comments made by the public.
This, the lawyer said, has resulted in KJ having to face the sting of the defamatory posts which were mainly focused on him.
“All these comments caused serious injury to his reputation as health minister at the time. The plaintiff did not provoke for the publication of such postings.
“In fact, the plaintiff does not know the defendant, and yet he (Mohd Rasyid) made those statements and went further in attacking my client and his children,” the lawyer said.
KJ’s lawyer also told the court that Mohd Rasyiq showed no remorse or sincerity when he issued an apology after the suit was filed, when he replied that he was willing to fight the case in the court of law and also in court in the hereafter.
For these reasons, Abdul Rashid said his client was seeking the general, aggravated, and exemplary damages, and an injunction for the postings to be removed.