Dr Jimmy Lim (back) and his lawyers leaving the Penang High Court after losing a defamation suit filed by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, August 4, 2015.Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng won his defamation suit against an online news portal, its former journalist and a non-governmental organisation representative over a report which alleged that he allowed demolition of many heritage and historical structures.
Penang High Court Judicial Commissioner Datuk Nordin Hassan in his ruling today said the plaintiff had successfully proven his case against the portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT), its former journalist Athi Shankar, whose real name is S. Karunakaran, and Penang Citizens Awareness Chant Group (Chant) advisor Dr Jimmy Lim Cheok Siang.
He ordered the defendants to pay RM300,000 in total damages to the plaintiff with 5% interest, and RM30,000 cost.
He also ordered the portal and the journalist to retract the article.
Guan Eng was suing the portal, Athi and Jimmy over the report published by FMT under the headline "Guan Eng has failed, says NGO" dated December 6, 2013 for defamation.
The report written by Athi, who has since joined another media organisation, quoted Jimmy urging the chief minister to “walk his political talk” on preservation and conservation of the state’s heritage and history.
The report also alleged that the plaintiff had allowed the destruction of an Indian village, Kampung Buah Pala, also known as Tamil High Chaparral, in the early days of Pakatan Rakyat’s rule.
Nordin said as a reasonable reader of the article, he would come to the conclusion that the plaintiff had done what was alleged, allowing the destruction of heritage and the village.
He said the report would give an impression that Guan Eng had no calibre as a chief minister and uncaring towards heritage.
"The first defendant (Jimmy) had said he replied on news reports to make his allegations against the plaintiff. In this case, news reports cannot be regarded as factual statements but hearsay.
"The journalist also said he (Jimmy) did not provide proof to back his claims and his editors did not instruct him to seek verification."
Nordin said that it should had been done before the publication of the article in accordance with the practice of responsible journalism as the report could cause injury to another's reputation.
Acknowledging the fact that online news portals were required to release news in real time, he said it was, however. not an excuse for the portal and the journalist not to seek clarification when there were slanderous elements in the report.
Nordin said the defendants could not use fair comment as a defence in this case because they could not prove the claims that such destruction had occurred under the plaintiff's administration.
Using public interest as a defence was also not applicable in this case, he added.
"Such a defence must be reasonable and it depends on the circumstances of the case," he said, stressing that steps must be taken to seek verification and the response of the person mentioned in the article.
Guan Eng, who was not present in court, was represented by counsel Datuk N. Mureli.
Clement Lopez acted as counsel for MToday News Sdn Bhd, the operator of FMT; and Athi. Jimmy was represented by Baljit Singh and V. Amareson.
Outside the courtroom, Baljit and Lopez told reporters that their clients have instructed them to file an appeal.
Baljit said the battle was lost but the war was far from over.
Jimmy, in a written statement on behalf of Chant Group, said they were very disappointed with the decision.
"However this decision has not dampened our spirit towards preserving Penang's history, culture, heritage, and the environment. We will continue with our efforts to do so.
"In this respect, it is our intent to appeal against this decision, as we think our role as spokesmen for history, culture, heritage, environment of Penang is important and must be continued," he said. – August 4, 2015.
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