KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today dismissed Hannah Yeoh's defamation suit against former top cop Tan Sri Musa Hassan over a speech he delivered at a forum at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) four years ago.
Judicial commissioner Arziah Mohamed Apandi made the decision after ruling that the Youth and Sports minister failed to prove the impugned statements were defamatory.
The court said the plaintiff failed to establish two essential elements of defamation namely that the statements as a whole referred to her and that defendant was responsible for their publication.
"There was no clear evidence of malice, as the defendant based his statements on academic analysis, spoke within the context of broader national security concerns, and had no control over the publication of his remarks.
"The statements were made at a forum discussing national security issues, where defendant spoke as former inspector general of police about perceived security threats.
"Defendant was merely an invited speaker with no knowledge that forum would be broadcast and only learned of the Facebook Live streaming at the end. He had no control over publication," said the court.
The court said the constitutional right to freedom of expression must be robustly protected, particularly regarding matters of public interest and statements made on privileged occasions.
"While responsible speech is important, public figures must expect and tolerate robust criticism and debate about their public statements and activities," the court added.
The court also awarded RM40,000 in cost to the defendant.
Hannah's lawyer Lim Wei Jiet said they would file an appeal at the Court of Appeal soon.
Based on the lawsuit filed on July 3, 2020, Hannah claims that Musa gave a speech at a forum titled "Current Issues Discourse on the Hat Yai Peace Agreement 1989: Did the CPM Surrender?"
The impugned statements alleged that the plaintiff wrote her book to turn Malaysia into a Christian nation, had links with evangelists and Jews to damage Islam and Malaysia, and put her personal interests above national interests.
The DAP lawmaker claimed that the statements in the speech were untrue, distressing, false, incorrect and baseless, as well as premeditated, made with malicious intent, tarnished her reputation, defamed her and destroyed her reputation.