KUALA LUMPUR (April 18): The High Court has ordered religious preacher Mohd Rasyiq Mohd Alwi to pay former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar RM2.5 million for defamatory statements over Covid-19 vaccination at the height of the pandemic.
High Court judge Datuk Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan found that the preacher deliberately took Khairy's statements out of context and the time frame to form a false narrative.
The judge awarded RM250,000 for each of the eight defamatory statements posted on social media. This comes to RM 2 million as demanded by Khairy. The court also awarded RM250,000 as exemplary damages and another RM250,000 for aggravated damages.
The court also ordered cost at RM50,000.
Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin said that the case should serve a lesson to the preacher and others to not "spread unverified, unprovoked and false information", especially in the midst of a life-threatening crisis.
"These statements are inherently damaging to [Khairy]'s ministerial and personal reputation.
"I conclude that the defendant deliberately took the plaintiff's previous statements out of their original context and time frame, and presented them in an untruthful and misleading way to create a false narrative.
"Furthermore, I think it was utterly irresponsible of the defendant to create doubt and attack the plaintiff in such a manner, when most, if not all Malaysians, were in a high state of fear when faced with a novel virus," the High Court judge ruled.
In his detailed 13-page decision, Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin said that Khairy, along with former director general of Health Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, was entrusted to lead the government's agenda of "preserving lives and livelihoods", which included ensuring the public that the vaccination would work.
"What would be the perception of society towards the plaintiff after the defendant made defamatory statements that could undermine such public confidence?" he asked.
The judge also broke down the eight defamatory statements — posted between October 2021 and January 2022 — individually, finding that they were false. The defamatory statements concerned vaccination requirements for Malaysians performing their umrah, Khairy's personal vaccination status, and the vaccination for his children. One of the posts was also accompanied with a picture of one of Khairy's children, a minor.
Khairy filed the suit in January 2022, when he was still the health minister. The trial took place over two days in February this year, with Khairy and Noor Hisham testifying.
The preacher did not appear in the trial, even when he was notified of the trial dates.
The judge noted that the proceedings were protracted due to Mohd Rasyiq's request to change lawyers. There were 11 case managements, including the mediation process from November 2023 to December 2024.
"Not only did the defendant take no action, but he also disregarded the relevant courtesy and responsibility to this court," Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin said.
Earlier at the start of the proceedings, it was revealed that the preacher had sought another adjournment through a letter by his new solicitors. This was rejected by the court.
The preacher was not present for the judgement on Friday.
Speaking to reporters following the judgement, Khairy said that the decision was not about the amount, but rather a signal from the court to the public against making unfounded statements during times of crisis.
At the start of the proceedings, Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin also expressed his condolences to Khairy, who was present in court, for the recent loss of his father-in-law, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Abdullah, the nation's fifth prime minister, passed away on April 14 at the National Heart Institute. He was 85 years old.