FMT:
Guan Eng wins defamation suit against Zuraida
High Court awards RM50,000 in damages to the ex-finance minister over allegations made by his former Cabinet colleague
Lim Guan Eng sued former housing and local government minister Zuraida Kamaruddin and MalaysiaNow’s publisher and editor for defamation over a report alleging he had twice rejected a housing project for former plantation workers in Bestari Jaya.
PETALING JAYA: Ex-finance minister Lim Guan Eng has won a defamation suit against his former Cabinet colleague Zuraida Kamaruddin for alleging that he had twice rejected a housing project for former plantation workers in Bestari Jaya.
The Shah Alam High Court ruled that Zuraida, news portal MalaysiaNow’s publisher MNow Media Sdn Bhd, and editor Abdar Rahman Koya had failed to establish the defences raised.
Lim testified in January that no formal application had been made to the finance ministry, while Zuraida maintained that she was told verbally by lim at two meetings that the project was rejected.
However she also acknowledged she did not file an application in black and white, nor had written notes of her meetings with Lim.
Lim’s solicitors, SN Nair & Partners, said the court awarded the Bagan MP RM50,000 in global damages against all three defendants.
“The court granted an injunction restraining further publication of the defamatory statements and ordered the defendants to jointly pay RM5,000 in costs to the plaintiff (Lim),” it said in a statement.
Lim and Zuraida were Cabinet colleagues between May 2018 and February 2020 when Pakatan Harapan was in power under then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The government collapsed after the Sheraton Move, paving the way for Perikatan Nasional to assume power with Muhyiddin Yassin installed as prime minister.
Lim was replaced as finance minister in the new administration, but Zuraida retained her portfolio until the 2022 general election (GE15), when PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim was appointed prime minister.
On May 10, 2024, four days after Anwar’s government announced that 200 units of flats would be built for the workers, MalaysiaNow published Zuraida’s claim that Lim had previously blocked the construction of the housing project.
Lim filed the defamation suit against Zuraida in June 2024, contending that her claims were false and had tarnished his reputation as a senior leader. He had sought RM5 million in damages.
The former DAP secretary-general had accused the three defendants of having published the report “in order to get cheap publicity”.
Lim added that Zuraida had refused to comply with a demand that she retract her remarks.
Zuraida was formerly a PKR vice-president but left the party in 2020 following the Sheraton Move. She joined Muhyiddin’s Bersatu before leaving the party to join Larry Sng’s Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM).
After failing to defend her Ampang parliamentary seat on a PBM ticket in GE15, Zuraida was sacked from PBM following a tiff with party president Larry Sng.
The Shah Alam High Court ruled that Zuraida, news portal MalaysiaNow’s publisher MNow Media Sdn Bhd, and editor Abdar Rahman Koya had failed to establish the defences raised.
Lim testified in January that no formal application had been made to the finance ministry, while Zuraida maintained that she was told verbally by lim at two meetings that the project was rejected.
However she also acknowledged she did not file an application in black and white, nor had written notes of her meetings with Lim.
Lim’s solicitors, SN Nair & Partners, said the court awarded the Bagan MP RM50,000 in global damages against all three defendants.
“The court granted an injunction restraining further publication of the defamatory statements and ordered the defendants to jointly pay RM5,000 in costs to the plaintiff (Lim),” it said in a statement.
Lim and Zuraida were Cabinet colleagues between May 2018 and February 2020 when Pakatan Harapan was in power under then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The government collapsed after the Sheraton Move, paving the way for Perikatan Nasional to assume power with Muhyiddin Yassin installed as prime minister.
Lim was replaced as finance minister in the new administration, but Zuraida retained her portfolio until the 2022 general election (GE15), when PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim was appointed prime minister.
On May 10, 2024, four days after Anwar’s government announced that 200 units of flats would be built for the workers, MalaysiaNow published Zuraida’s claim that Lim had previously blocked the construction of the housing project.
Lim filed the defamation suit against Zuraida in June 2024, contending that her claims were false and had tarnished his reputation as a senior leader. He had sought RM5 million in damages.
The former DAP secretary-general had accused the three defendants of having published the report “in order to get cheap publicity”.
Lim added that Zuraida had refused to comply with a demand that she retract her remarks.
Zuraida was formerly a PKR vice-president but left the party in 2020 following the Sheraton Move. She joined Muhyiddin’s Bersatu before leaving the party to join Larry Sng’s Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM).
After failing to defend her Ampang parliamentary seat on a PBM ticket in GE15, Zuraida was sacked from PBM following a tiff with party president Larry Sng.
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RM50,000 ta'cukup pun nak bayar loyar lah
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