CONTROVERSIAL Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) senior lecturer Dr Kamarul Zaman Yusoff who earned fame as “Prof Kangkung” in the aftermath of the 14th General Election (GE14) in May 2018 has lost his appeal against the dismissal of his defamation suit against former Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad.
Lawyer Faiz Fadzil Noor who represented Kamarul Zaman said Kuala Lumpur High Court Justice Datuk Seri Latifah Tahar reached her decison decision during an online proceeding today.
He said the court affirmed that Khalid’s remarks against Kamarul were fair comment. The court also awarded RM10,000 in costs to Khalid.
Khalid made his remark after the doctorate holder-cum-political observer criticised Segambut MP (and currently Youth and Sport Minister) Hannah Yeoh’s book, “Becoming Hannah”, in 2017.
Ironically, Yeoh had on March 28 last year filed a defamation suit against Kamarul who once assumed the role of special officer to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob over two of his Facebook posts made in 2017 which alleged that “the plaintiff (Yeoh) has a motive to proselytise Christianity through her politics”.
Hannah’s book described her journey as an ordinary Malaysian woman whose life was transformed through her personal faith as a Christian which later led her into politics.
Khalid who is Amanah’s communications director and the party’s Kelantan state chairman had alleged in an article entitled “Pensyarah Melayu Bodohkan Melayu Ibarat Pagar Makan Padi” that Kamarul’s criticism of Yeoh had “tarnished the image of Islam”.
On April 29 last year, the Sessions Court dismissed Kamarul’s suit against Khalid on grounds that Khalid’s remarks were fair comment.
Kamarul also filed several suits against Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders such as Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng, Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen, Taiping MP Wong Kah Woh, Bukit Bendera MP Syerleena Abdul Rashid as well as DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang.
However, the suits against them were struck out on technical grounds. – March 28, 2023
Main pic credit: Harapan Daily
