SHAH ALAM (May 2): The Shah Alam High Court on Tuesday (May 2) dismissed an appeal by PAS ulama council committee member Ahmad Dusuki Abdul Rani concerning his failed defamation suit against former religious affairs minister Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa.
The defamation suit centred around Mujahid's tweet to Ahmad Dusuki about the Ahmad Dusuki's YouTube video dated February 2020. In the video, Ahmad Dusuki alleged that Tabung Haji had sold its assets, including a hotel to non-Muslims -- actions he called sinful.
Mujahid tweeted: "Seorang Ustaz berdusta, berpuloh ribu jadi mangsa…berlagak tahu segalanya akhirnya telan api fitnah dalam perut dia sendiri…hingga kini tak pernah tarik balik pendustaannya…Allahu Mustaan." (An ustaz lying, and there are tens of thousands becoming victims...he acts as if he knows everything but in the end it is all slander...and till today it has not been withdrawn.)
Mujahid’s counsel Norazmir Zakaria confirmed the dismissal of the appeal in a statement, saying Shah Alam High Court judge Datuk Khadijah Idris, in her decision on Tuesday, ruled that on a balance of probabilities, the impugned statement had justification as it was made in response to Ahmad Dusuki’s video.
“The judge ruled that there is evidence and even [an] explanation made in Parliament by the former prime minister (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) that Tabung Haji assets which are not competitive are moved to a special purpose vehicle under Minister of Finance Inc, and that it was not controlled by non-Muslims.
“The move was part of Tabung Haji's recovery and restructuring plan, which was approved by the Cabinet, when Mujahid was the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department,” Norazmir explained.
The lawyer further said that Ahmad Dusuki in his testimony agreed that the Tabung Haji hotel was not sold to non-Muslims, and that Mujahid’s tweet was in relation to the preacher’s statement that Tabung Haji’s assets were sold to non-Muslims.
Norazmir said Ahmad Dusuki was also ordered by the High Court to pay RM7,000 costs to Mujahid.
Sessions Court judge Azian Othman on Sept 14 last year dismissed Ahmad Dusuki’s claim by ruling that the tweet was not defamatory as the testimony during the trial had proven that the pilgrim fund’s assets were not sold to non-Muslims.