Wan Azizah, two others ordered to pay Felda RM70,000

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here ordered PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and two others to pay RM70,000 in damages to the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) and its subsidiary.

The defamation case pertained to two articles published in 2010, in PKR’s newspaper, ‘Suara Keadilan’.

Deputy Registrar Norfauzani Mohd Nordin made the decision in chambers yesterday at the damage assessment procedure.

The plaintiffs were represented by lawyer Nor Emelia Mohd Iszeham while Wan Azizah, Senator Dr Syed Husin Ali and writer of the articles, Rusnizam Mahat, by counsel Francis Pereira.

On Aug 16, 2010, Felda and Felda Global Ventures Holdings Sdn Bhd filed a RM200 million defamation suit in respect to two news reports published by Suara Keadilan on June 22 and June 29, 2010.

The plaintiffs alleged that an article with the heading ‘Felda Bankrap’ and another, ‘Bina Bangunan RM662 juta Hanya Libatkan Tiga Individu’ accompanied by a photograph captioned, ‘Kontroversi’ had tarnished their image.

On Sept 30, 2014, Suara Keadilan former editor, Dzulkarnain Taib, who was initially named as one of the defendants tendered an apology to the plaintiffs.

He stated that the articles were erroneous and published by Suara Keadilan to intentionally belittle the plaintiffs and damage their reputation.

On Oct 17, 2014, the High Court ruled in favour of Felda and its subsidiary.

Meanwhile, Nor Emelia said when met by reporters that the court also ordered the defendants to pay eight percent interest from the judgement date till disposal of the case yesterday. - Bernama