Ismail Sabri’s defamation suit against contractor settled

KUALA LUMPUR: A defamation suit filed by former Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob against a contractor over a Facebook posting was settled yesterday after the latter agreed to withdraw the statement.

Lawyer Latheefa Koya, representing the contractor, Zaid Omar, when met by reporters, said the settlement was recorded by High Court judge Datuk Mohd Firuz Jaffril in chambers, with no order to cost and damages.

Zaid will upload his statement on the settlement on his Facebook within 48 hours, she said, adding that Ismail Sabri’s lawyer, Samsinaralia Sahar , was also present during the chamber proceeding.

The court had set yesterday to hear the case.

Zaid, in his statement of settlement, said he was sued by Ismail Sabri over a his posting on Facebook under the name “Zaid Bera”, dated Sept 26, 2017.

“I, thereby, withdraw my statement and will post this (statement of settlement) as settlement to the suit. I promise to not repeat it,” he said.

Ismail Sabri filed the suit on Dec 12, 2017, claiming that Zaid, who is Parti Pertubuhan Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) member, had uploaded and posted defamatory statements against him on a facebook account with the profile name ‘Zaid Bera’ on Sept 26 the same year.

The Bera Member of Parliament claimed that the statements posted by Zaid, among others, meant that he had abused and went beyond his power as a minister, as well as ignored the ministry’s directorgeneral and the Bera branch Giat Mara in the selection of a contractor to carry out restoration of low cost housing project in Bera.

He said the words were also intended to mean he had issued instruction for the Bera branch Giat Mara Plaintif that the selection of contractor for the project would be through closed tender and that he was not fit to be a minister.

Ismail Sabri claimed that the defamatory words were false, baseless and posted with malice and affected his position, personal and political reputation and also character.

He had sought general damages of RM500,000, as well as aggravated and exemplary damages and an injunction to prevent the plaintiff from further making the alleged defamatory statements.

Meanwhile, Zaid, in his defence, said the statement was made under qualified privilege without any malice and was fair comment as it involved an issue of public interest.

He said it was also intended to expose weaknesses and flaws in the awarding of contracts by the ministry.