Mahfuz Omar wins suit, awarded RM50,000 in damages

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today ordered Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor to pay RM50,000 in damages to Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar over a defamatory statement made on Facebook two years ago.

Judicial Commissioner Datuk Mohd Arief Emran Arifin made the order after allowing a defamation suit filed by Mahfuz as the plaintiff against Muhammad Sanusi as the defendant.

Lawyer Noorazmir Zakaria, who represented Mahfuz, said the court had ordered Muhammad Sanusi to pay the damages within 14 days from today.

"The court also ordered the defendant (Muhammad Sanusi) to write an apology to the plaintiff on the defendant's Facebook page within 14 days, besides paying legal costs to the plaintiff amounting to RM15,000.

"Other orders imposed are an injunction restraining the defendant or his agents from publishing defamatory words against the plaintiff in the future," he said when contacted by reporters via WhatsApp after the decision was announced via an online proceeding today.

The proceeding was also attended by lawyers Yusfarizal Yussoff and Mohd Faizi Che Abu, who represented Muhammad Sanusi.

The case was heard on Aug 26, with two plaintiff witnesses including Mahfuz, and defendant Muhammad Sanusi, testifying.

Mahfuz filed the suit on On Oct 9, 2019, based on a post made by Muhammad Sanusi on his Facebook account on July 30 the same year, which linked Mahfuz as the Pokok Sena MP on the issue of the transfer of a Sports Toto outlet to the area.

Mahfuz also claimed that Muhammad Sanusi posted a 7-minute-57-second video on his Facebook account on July 27, 2019, which showed a group of individuals protesting the opening of a Sports Toto outlet in Pokok Sena, while holding a banner bearing the plaintiff's name.

-- BERNAMA