Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 20, 2015.

 

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court awarded Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim RM200,000 in damages yesterday after the publisher of the Utusan Malaysia daily was found liable of defaming the former opposition leader three years ago.

Judge Hue Siew Kheng awarded Anwar RM100,000 in general damages and another RM100,000 in aggravated damages.

She also ordered Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd to pay RM8,000 in costs.

The suit pertained to two newspaper articles on Anwar’s comments on homosexuality laws in an interview with broadcaster BBC.

Hue said in a defamation suit, damages were awarded for injury to reputation and feelings.

She said Utusan did not offer an apology to Anwar when a letter of demand was served before the suit was filed. “The plaintiff (Anwar) had a high standing in society, both locally and abroad,” she added.

She said the court awarded RM100,000 in aggravated damages because there was malice on the part of Utusan in publishing the articles.

Anwar filed the suit in January 2012, seeking RM50 million in damages and an injunction to stop Utusan from repeating statements accusing him of being a gay rights proponent.

Also named as defendant was its group editor-in-chief Datuk Abdul Aziz Ishak. In January 2013, then High Court judge Datuk VT Singham found Utusan Malaysia liable for defaming Anwar in the two articles.

The trial judge said the newspaper had “distorted” the opposition leader’s words to suggest he backed the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement.

Singham said the daily did not practise responsible journalism, in addition to disregarding a golden opportunity to correct itself after Anwar sent a legal notice asking for clarification.

“The articles ... are a rather distorted and incorrect version, and obviously taken out of context,” Singham said in his judgment. “The articles have a purpose of their own ... to give rise to a defamatory imputation that the plaintiff is condoning LGBT activities to be legalised, which is not true under the circumstances.”

The judge said it was “crystal clear” that Anwar did not say that LGBT activities should be legalised in his BBC interview, and the Utusan articles had suggested that Anwar was unfit to hold public office and be the opposition leader.

During trial, Anwar told the court that he agreed that homosexuals should be discriminated against to protect the sanctity of marriage, but pointed out that archaic laws should be reviewed to prevent innocent people from being punished. The Court of Appeal subsequently dismissed Utusan’s appeal against Singham’s decision. — The Malaysian Insider

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