Ex-Sabah CM Harris Salleh wins defamation suit

PUTRAJAYA: The defamation suit between two former Sabah chief ministers saw the plaintiff Tan Sri Harris Salleh awarded RM600,000 against Datuk Yong Teck Lee (pix), after the Federal Court ruled in his favour, today.
Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop, who delivered the judgment which reinstated the 2013 High Court ruling, said the defendant, Yong, who is currently Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president, had merely published a statement by Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah but with some embellishment.
The five-man bench chaired by Chief Justice Tun Raus Sharif also ordered Yong to pay RM600,000 in quantum with 8% interest to be paid on the judgment sum from the date of the High Court ruling.
Raus also ordered Yong to pay Harris RM200,000 in costs.
Other members on the bench were justices Tan Sri Hasan Lah, Datuk Seri Abu Samah Nordin and Tan Sri Aziah Ali.
Lawyer Trevor Maringking appeared for Harris while Shim Mong Seng represented Yong.
Harris had sued Yong for RM50 million in 2010 over remarks suggesting that the former was involved in the "Double Six" air crash tragedy that killed then Sabah Chief Minister Tun Mohd Fuad Stephens and 10 others in 1976.