KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 12): Seputeh member of parliament Teresa Kok’s defamation suit against Merlimau assemblyman Dr Muhammad Akmal Salleh over his remarks against her in their halal certification row will go to trial after settlement talks broke down on Monday (Jan 12).
The two parties failed to reach an agreement at the Malacca High Court mediation centre at the Malacca court complex at 11.30am today.
This was confirmed by Teresa’s lawyer Datuk N Sankara Nair of Messrs S N Nair and Partners to the media.
“Following this, the case will proceed to a full trial (before Judicial Commissioner Isa Aziz Ibrahim) on Feb 12 and 13 at High Court 3,” Sankara added.
Akmal, who is also a Merlimau assemblyman, was represented by lawyer Syahrul Syazwan from Messrs Fahri Azzat & Co.
Teresa, a DAP vice-chairman, filed the defamation suit against Akmal following his remarks against her amid disagreements over Malaysia’s halal certification.
She issued a letter of demand against Akmal to withdraw the remarks and apologise, prompting the latter to say he would “see you in court”.
In the writ of summons, Teresa said Akmal’s comments were “slanderous, libellous, untrue, baseless, malicious, and driven by a racist tone”.
In the suit, Teresa claimed Akmal defamed her through remarks published in two articles, one titled Akmal: Saya minta kerajaan sediakan logo non-halal, tampal pada dahi Teresa and another with the headline UMNO youth chief swipes at “old Nyonya” Teresa over halal cert published online.
The Seputeh MP is seeking general, compensatory, aggravated, and exemplary damages from the Umno leader, as well as an injunction preventing him or his agents from repeating the remarks.