KUALA LUMPUR: Former Melaka chief minister Tan Sri Rahim Tamby Chik has failed in his defamation lawsuit against Ipoh Timur MP Howard Lee, DAP and Malaysiakini over an article written by Lee in 2018.
High Court judge Justice Roz Mawar Rozain dismissed Rahim’s lawsuit on grounds that the plaintiff had failed to prove its case on a balance of probabilities against the defendants.
“The plaintiff’s suit is hereby dismissed,” she said in the decision here on Friday and ordered him to pay RM150,000 in costs.
In 2020, Rahim filed the lawsuit, claiming that the defendants had defamed him with Lee’s opinion piece entitled “Khianat jika Rahim diterima masuk Bersatu-Pemuda DAP”, which was written as a response to Rahim’s application to join Bersatu.
The article was published on Dec 16, 2018 on Malaysiakini as well as DAP’s website under the headline “Permohonan Rahim sekiranya diterima akan ditafsir sebagai pengkhianatan”.
Rahim named Lee, Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd (owner and publisher of news portal Malaysiakini), Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan and DAP’s office bearers Tan Kok Wai, Gobind Singh Deo and Lim Guan Eng as the first until the sixth defendants.
In the decision, Justice Roz Mawar said based on the extensive consideration of all the evidence, the impugned words did convey the lesser defamatory meaning identified, namely that the plaintiff was a morally compromised figure linked to a serious scandal and was unfit for public office.
“However, liability does not follow because the defence of justification is made out as to that lesser sting; fair comment protects the opinions expressed on matters of public interest and in relation to the second and third defendants (Malaysiakini and Gan), the defence of reportage applies,” she said.
The court noted that Malaysiakini and Gan had given the plaintiff an opportunity to publish his version of events to show that they were not taking sides but the plaintiff declined and filed the legal action two years after the publication.
“Malice is not proven and the delay raises additional process concerns,” the judge added.
The court awarded costs of RM75,000 to Lee and DAP (the fourth, fifth and sixth defendants Tan, Gobind and Lim), and another RM75,000 to the second and third defendants (Malaysiakini and Gan).
The case went on trial for 10 days with four witnesses taking the stand. Rahim himself testified under oath.
