Hassan Ali to pay RM200k in damages to Khalid Abdul Samad
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today ordered Datuk Dr Hassan Ali to pay RM200,000 in damages to Shah Alam MP, Khalid Abdul Samad for defaming him in a speech he made in 2012.
Khalid sued Hassan in relation to his speech which defamed him with regards to the sale of liquor, gaming centres and massage parlours in Selangor.
High court judge Datuk Hue Siew Kheng also granted RM35,000 cost (to be paid by Hassan)
In her decision, Hue considered that Khalid is a public figure and there was no dispute that the words referred to Khalid and were defamatory.
"It cannot be stressed enough that religion is a highly sensitive issue in this country. To accuse someone of being anti-Islam or traitor to the religion carries extremely dire consequences for the victim," said Hue.
"The defendant's baseless allegations had brought him (Khalid) into public odium and scandal and he had suffered as a result of it," she added.
"The words complained of, taken in the context of the whole speech is in my mind clearly defamatory to the plaintiff (Khalid)," she said.
Hue said Khalid had proved the claim was defamatory, particularly in light of
evidence of two witnesses that Khalid did not encourage or promote the sale of liquor or the proliferation of massage parlours and gambling dens, as falsely denounced by the defendant (Hassan).
"The claim is accordingly allowed," said Hue.
On April 29, 2015, Khalid who is now a committee member of Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) filed the lawsuit alleging that Hassan, who was then a Selangor State Government exco made disparaging remarks against him in a speech at DewanRukun Tetangga Seksyen 17 Shah Alam in 2012.
The plaintiff claimed the video containing the speech was edited and uploaded in YouTube which could be freely accessed by all.
On Dec 16, 2016, the court struck out Hassan's statement of defence after he failed to appropriately file the documents for trial.
Khalid was represented by lawyer Muhammad Faiz Fadzil, while lawyer Datuk Hasnal Rezua Merican acted for Hassan.