Sabah Law Society, law makers urged to ensure justice for Sabahans
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Law Society and law makers have been urged to initiate legal reforms to ensure justice and fairness for Sabahans and everyone in Sabah and compliance with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Sabah Progressive Party president Datuk Yong Teck Lee made the call after a local Sabah newspaper has been ordered to defend itself in a court in Putrajaya over a publication concerning an incident that occurred in Sabah.
“This is another serious breach of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 that provided for separate jurisdictions of the courts in Malaya and in Sabah and Sarawak.
“For that matter, it is hugely unfair and prejudicial to anyone in Sabah to have to conduct the defence of any litigation in courts of law outside Sabah over something that occurred in Sabah,” said Yong.
Although the case affects a local daily newspaper, he said the direct implications to all other Sabah persons or companies or associations or any other legal entities in Sabah are serious.
He said anyone in Sabah can be sued in a court in Negeri Negeri Tanah Melayu or Sarawak over something that was said, published or done in Sabah.
“The vulnerability to legal suits from other parts of Malaysia affects not only newspapers. Bearing in mind that the courts in Putrajaya have ruled that they may hear the cases against Daily Express, a Sabah local paper, the same law (if it remains unchanged) means that any Facebook user, any Twitter, any website, any blogger, any news portal and any person whose statements having been reported in social media (internet) in Sabah face the threat of be sued in a court outside Sabah simply because the social media (internet) is accessible in other parts of Malaysia,” he said. Yong said it is a scary prospect that anyone in Sabah can be dragged to a court of law in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Penang, Kuala Terengganu, Muar, Kuantan, Johore Bahru, Kota Bahru, Malacca, Shah Alam, Kuching and so on over something that was said and reported in news platform or social media, even WhatsApp.
“Not only that. Due to our separate judicial jurisdictions, Sabah lawyers are not allowed to appear before the High Courts in other States. (Sabah lawyers may only appear before the Court of Appeal or Federal Court in Putrajaya for cases originating from Sabah or Labuan).
“This means we must engage law firms in other states or KL. Imagine the extra time, energy and costs involving travel, accommodation and logistics for both defendants and witnesses. This adds up to gross injustices and unfairness, with dire consequences, towards any Sabah party to a litigation conducted outside Sabah,” he added in a statement yesterday.
Sabah Publishing Sdn Bhd and Daily Express chief editor James Sarda on Monday failed in their appeal to strike out a RM10 million defamation lawsuit filed by Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
This followed a decision by a three-man bench of the Court of Appeal, comprising Justices Datuk Rohana Yusuf, Datuk Vernon Ong Lam Kiat and Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, in dismissing the appeal by Sabah Publishing and James.
On Oct 9 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed the application by Sabah Publishing and its editor to strike out the defamation suit. Ismail Sabri filed the lawsuit in March last year at the Kuala Lumpur High Court claiming that Sabah Publishing and James had wrongfully and maliciously published three articles in the Daily Express, dated Sept 6, 2016, on protected turtle eggs served at a dinner function in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah which he attended in 2015.
It is illegal to consume or to be in possession of turtle eggs in Sabah.
Ismail Sabri, who is Bera Member of Parliament, said the defamatory words against him were wrong, baseless, ill-intended and had tarnished his reputation as a public leader. He is seeking an apology from the appellants, as well as general damages, aggravated damages and exemplary damages.
Sabah Publishing and James, in their statement of defence, denied publishing and printing the articles with wrongful and bad intentions.
They said the articles published were produced under conditional safeguards and without malice.
Sabah Publishing and James contended that the suit should have been filed at the Kota Kinabalu High Court, instead of the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
However, High Court judge Datuk Nordin Hassan held that the suit could be heard in Kuala Lumpur as the article in question was also published on the paper’s website and was accessible in Peninsular Malaysia.