Jamal Yunos attempts to defend himself from Maria Chin's defamation suit

KUALA LUMPUR: Red Shirts leader Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos said he had made allegations against former Bersih chairman Maria Chin Abdullah, including linking her to terrorist group IS, based on reports he read on social media.
Giving his evidence in a defamation suit brought by Maria against him, Jamal told the court he made the assumptions (andaian) as he had read online reports that Maria's late husband Yunos Lebai Ali was involved with terrorist activities.
However, when Maria's lawyer N. Surendran pressed him if he had the reports with him, the Sungai Besar Umno division chief said that he did not. He said he did not have any evidence to back his claims as it did not cross his mind to print the articles.
High Court Judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab reprimanded Jamal, "When you say something in court, you must have evidence, cannot simply say things. This is a court not a coffee shop."
The judge also reminded Jamal not to merely give his opinion on matters, but to stick to answering the lawyer's questions with evidence.
Jamal also admitted that his statements of going to war against Bersih and other similar aggressive statements were just meant to provoke.
"I meant war of words (perang mulut) and not to go to war with weapons," he stressed.
On Oct 7, 2016, Maria had, as the then Bersih 2.0 chair, sued Jamal for defamation.
Maria claimed that Jamal had made defamatory remarks on Sept 28 and Oct 4, 2016 by claiming that the Bersih 2.0 movement had been infiltrated by the terrorist group Islamic State (IS).
She further claimed Jamal had allegedly accused the Bersih 2.0 group of plotting to encircle two international airports (KLIA and KLIA2) and key government buildings.
The High Court fixed Aug 13 for case management, during which the decision date is expected to be fixed.