NFCorp exec chairman wins suit, Rafizi to pay RM200,000 in damages

PKR vice-president Mohd Rafizi Ramli was today ordered to pay RM200,000 in damages to National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd (NFCorp) executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail and his company for defaming them over the purchase of a property in KL Eco City, Bangsar.

High Court Judicial Commissioner Azizul Azmi Adnan made the decision after allowing Mohamad Salleh and NFCorp's suit against Mohd Rafizi, who was the first defendant.

Azizul ordered Mohd Rafizi to pay damages of RM150,000 to Mohamad Salleh and RM50,000 to his company.

The court also ordered Mohd Rafizi to pay costs of RM100,000 to the plaintiffs (Mohamad Salleh and NFCorp).

However, the court dismissed Mohamad Salleh and NFCorp's suit against Malaysiakini, which was named as second defendant, and ordered the plaintiffs to pay cost of RM50,000 to the news portal.

In the suit filed on June 3, 2013, Mohamad Salleh and NFCorp, claimed that on March 7, 2012, Mohd Rafizi had made a defamatory statement at a media conference at the PKR Office on the purchase of KL Eco City properties and was published by Malaysiakini on the same day.

He said the suit was filed because of losses incurred due to the lies, misleading information, disclosure of confidential banking information and slander made by the defendants.

Mohamad Salleh sought general, exemplary and aggravated damages, as well as interests, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.

He also sought an injunction to prevent the defendants from continuing to mislead and deceive the public on the issue.

Azizul in his judgment said the statements made by Mohd Rafizi were defamatory and he had alleged that public funds had been misappropriated.

"'Seleweng' (misappropriation), in my view, is a serious allegation than 'salahguna' (misuse) and the latter may be the result of mere negligence or lack of care, whereas 'seleweng', as mentioned earlier, implies an element of dishonesty," he said, adding that Mohd Rafizi had not verified the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in the document.

""Even if the words 'dijadikan jaminan' can be read to mean 'use as leverage' rather than 'guarantee', in my view, the use of the word 'diselewengkan' (misappropriated) suggests that public funds were somehow put at risk by reason of the fact that the funds had been use as leverage to obtain personal loans," he said.

Azizul also said that there was no evidence that public funds were somehow used as collateral or security or otherwise put at risk, even if the contention of Mohd Rafizi was accepted that he only meant that the funds disbursed to NFCorp has been used as leverage.

"I find that the statements issued by Mohd Rafizi were also defamatory of the second plaintiff (NFCorp), as they suggest that the second plaintiff had misused the proceeds of the government loan by allowing its directors to raise financing by leveraging on the deposit," the judge said.

He further said that in the circumstances of this case, it was not seriously in dispute that the nature of allegations against the plaintiffs were serious, and were suggestive of conduct that might potentially have penal consequences.

While for the second defendant, Azizul said the court found that the effect of the reporting by the Malaysiakini, when viewed as whole and evaluated objectively, was to report the fact that the statements had been made at the press conference convened by Mohd Rafizi, rather than for the purposes of persuading the reader or viewer of their contents.

"I am of the view that the video clip was faithful recording of the actual events that had taken place, lending support to the finding that the trust of the reporting was to show the fact that the statements had been made by Mohd Rafizi.

"I am also of the view that the reporting had been done in a fair, disinterested and neutral way," Azizul said before dismissing the plaintiffs claim against Mkini Dotcom, which is the owner of the Malaysiakini news portal.

Meanwhile, Mohamad Salleh in a statement to the media said, finally, the truth had prevailed.

"Since late 2011, the Malaysian Government, NFCorp, its directors and my wife have had to endure a spate of unwarranted vicious attacks by the opposition and those out to take advantage against us.

Today, the air is cleared," he said. -- Bernama