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Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has been awarded RM400,000 in damages in her defamation lawsuit against Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) senior lecturer Dr Kamarul Zaman Yusoff over his Facebook post in 2017.
The court awards RM400,000 as general and aggravated damages to be paid by the defendant to the plaintiff and RM80,000 in costs.
Kamarul claimed that Yeoh was promoting a ‘’Christian agenda’’ through her personal memoir titled ‘’Becoming Hannah: A Personal Journey.’’ He claimed she was using her political platform to advance Christianity and turning Malaysia into a Christian nation.
Yeoh filed the lawsuit in 2022 over two of Kamarul’s Facebook posts.
READ MORE: 182 Laporan Polis Dibuat Ke Atas Hannah Yeoh Berhubung Isu Buku ‘Becoming Hannah’
High Court judge Justice Aliza Sulaiman said Yeoh had proven that the posts were defamatory and painted her as a threat to Islam.
In a multiracial and multireligious country where the issue of religion is, of course, very sensitive, this would surely expose the plaintiff to hatred, ridicule and contempt.
Judge Aliza
The judge additionally dismissed Kamarul’s claim that his comments were aimed at DAP as a political party because he had explicitly named Yeoh in both his pleadings and the title of one of his posts.
The court also dismissed Yeoh’s application for Kamarul to issue a public apology, saying the act could be seen as insincere, but granted her an injunction to restrain the defendant, his servants, or agents from republishing the impugned words or similar statements.
When met by reporters, Yeoh expressed her gratitude to her legal team, adding that justice finally prevailed.
She reiterated that the allegations were entirely false and hopes no one will resort to ‘’exploiting religious sentiments or spreading baseless accusations’’ about her or her book.
The court has acknowledged that the issue at hand involved religious sentiment. In a multiracial and multireligious country like ours, invoking such sentiments is akin to playing with fire. It is dangerous, especially when it involves slander. I believe slander is prohibited in Islam.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh
Meanwhile, Kamarul asserted that his statements were justified and will file an appeal to the Court of Appeal in the near future to challenge the decision.
READ MORE: PAS Perak Leader Drops New Comedy – “Hannah Yeoh Is YTL’s Daughter”
READ MORE: Hannah Yeoh Addresses Claims Of Proselytising To Muslims Under Jom Ziarah Programme
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