Kepala Batas MP Siti Mastura pays RM830,000 to DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng and Teresa Kok pending appeal of case
GEORGE TOWN, Jan 23 — Kepala Batas MP Siti Mastura Muhammad, who was found to have uttered defamatory remarks against DAP’s Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, and Teresa Kok by the Penang High Court, has filed an appeal against the decision.
The PAS MP has complied with the Penang High Court’s order to pay global damages and costs of RM825,000, including interest, to the trio by submitting a cheque to the plaintiffs’ counsel, Datuk Sankara Nair, pending the appeal.
Sankara confirmed that his firm had received a cheque totalling RM830,034.75, inclusive of interest up to today, from Siti Mastura.
“With this arrangement recorded, we will issue the necessary undertakings to the defendant to proceed and await the Court of Appeal hearing,” he said via a Zoom meeting held by the Penang High Court, which was also attended by Siti Mastura’s counsel, Yusfarizal Yussoff.
Earlier this morning, the counsels for both the defendant and plaintiffs reached an agreement in the chambers of Penang High Court judge Datuk Quay Chew Soon.
Yusfarizal said he had requested for the case to be called in chambers, as both parties had reached an agreement on the arrangements for the case.
“Siti Mastura has already made a payment to Sankara Nair’s firm, and the sum was paid to the firm’s account on the condition that the money be kept in the solicitor’s account pending the appeal in the Court of Appeal,” he said.
He added that the arrangement had been agreed upon by both parties.
“The hearing of the appeal is expected to be heard by the Court of Appeal on March 13,” he said, noting that the case is now at the case management stage.
On December 4 last year, Penang High Court Judge Datuk Quay Chew Soon ruled that Siti Mastura’s remarks linking Kit Siang, Guan Eng, and Kok to the late Communist Party of Malaya leader, Chin Peng, and Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew were defamatory and uttered with malice.
He said that her defences of fair comment, qualified privilege, and innocent dissemination were not proven.
He awarded global damages of RM300,000 in favour of Kit Siang, RM250,000 in favour of Guan Eng, and RM200,000 in favour of Kok. He then ordered that Siti Mastura pay RM25,000 in costs to each plaintiff.
He also granted an injunction to restrain Siti Mastura from uttering, writing, or publishing similar words against the trio.
Kit Siang, Guan Eng, and Kok filed defamation suits against Siti Mastura on November 27, 2023.
The suit was filed over a speech by Siti Mastura at a ceramah during the Kemaman by-election campaign period.
The three plaintiffs claimed that Siti Mastura had allegedly made a defamatory remark against them, linking them to the late Communist Party of Malaya leader, Chin Peng, as well as Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew.
The Penang PAS Muslimat deputy chief claimed that Kit Siang, Guan Eng, and the latter’s wife Betty Chew had ties to Chin Peng and Lee.
She also mentioned other DAP leaders, including Kok, Teluk Intan MP Nga Kor Ming, and Beruas MP Ngeh Koo Ham.