KUALA LUMPUR - The High Court today ordered former Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy to pay more than RM1.52 million in damages for defaming independent preacher from India Dr Zakir Naik.
The former DAP leader was ordered to make the payment within 30 days.
Judge Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz made the decision after finding that Zakir had successfully proven three elements of defamation made by Ramasamy, four years ago.
During the proceedings, lawyer Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader who represented Zakir told the court that his client could not attend as he was in Nigeria for a lecture until Nov 5.
Zakir attended the proceedings virtually via the Zoom application.
In Oct and Dec 2019, Zakir filed two separate lawsuits accusing Ramasamy of making five defamatory statements against him.
In his statement of claim, he alleged that Ramasamy had defamed him on April 10, 2016, by calling him a 'devil' on Facebook.
Zakir who held a permanent resident status claimed that Ramasamy defamed him in another statement published on a news portal on Oct 1, 2017, by alleging that Malaysia was protecting what he claimed as a fugitive from India.
He also claimed that on Aug 11, 2019, Ramasamy manipulated a speech he made at a government-organised event in Kelantan, which was published by a news portal on the same day.
On Aug 20, 2019, Ramasamy was again alleged of defaming Zakir in a hate-filled statement.
In his second lawsuit, Zakir alleged that Ramasamy defamed him when commenting on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) group, which was published by a news portal on Nov 8, 2019.