KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court yesterday fixed Aug 13 and 17 to hear a suit filed by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob against a contractor for defamatory statements posted on the latter’s Facebook page.
The matter was decided by judge Datuk Mohd Firuz Jaffril in chambers during case management.
The former rural and regional development minister had filed the suit against Zaid Omar in December last year, over the latter’s statement that Ismail Sabri had overstepped his power by ignoring the ministry’s director-general’s choice of local contractors for a project involving the construction of low-cost housing in Bera.
In his statement of claim, Ismail Sabri said Zaid had made the defamatory statement on his Facebook page under the handle “Zaid Bera” on Sept 26 last year.
He had also claimed that the meaning and inference of the statement was that he had abused his power as a minister by telling the Bera branch of Giat Mara that the appointment of contractors would be done through closed tender.
Ismail Sabri claimed the allegations were false, baseless and made with malice and had affected his position, personal and political reputation, as well as character.
He is seeking general damages of RM500,000, as well as aggravated and exemplary damages and an injunction to prevent the respondent from further making alleged defamatory statements.
In his defence, Zaid said the statement was made under qualified privilege without any malice and was fair comment as it involved an issue of public interest.
He also said it was also intended to expose weaknesses and flaws in the awarding of contracts by the ministry.