Guan Eng seeks RM20m damages from blogger
O Civil action initiated over 20 articles published in portal belonging to Raja Petra
KUALA LUMPUR: Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng is seeking RM20 million in general damages in a suit against blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin over a series of articles on the RM6.3 billion Penang undersea tunnel project.
Lim said a total of 20 articles were published in both English and Malay by the Malaysia Today portal belonging to Raja Petra since February 2019.
“I am demanding RM1 million in damages for each article. The series of articles have been shared by internet users and they have still not been removed by the defendant,” he said in his testimony during a hearing to assess the quantum of damages before High Court Judicial Commissioner Datuk Mohd Arief Emran Arifin yesterday.
Lim said at the time the articles were published, he was holding an important position as finance minister and the allegations of corruption were specifically aimed at him as then Penang chief minister.
“My good name and reputation have been severely tarnished and the defendant stated that his source was the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). This has damaged my credibility and character,” said Lim, who also sought aggravated and exemplary damages amounting to RM500,000.
Lawyer Simon Murali, representing Lim, said in his submission that Malaysia Today is a free online portal that can be accessed by anyone and every article published can be shared by readers.
“There is no doubt that the dissemination of publications via the internet is able to reach people all over the world. Moreover, these defamatory statements were targeted at the then finance minister. The articles disseminated over a one-month period were published in series. As such, the general damages claim of RM1 million for each article is reasonable,” said the lawyer.
The court then set April 26 for the plaintiff to file additional submissions, and the decision on the quantum of damages to be awarded was fixed to be delivered via Zoom on May 25.
On Feb 28 last year, Lim obtained a default judgement against Raja Petra after the blogger did not contest the suit, Bernama reported.
Lim filed the suit on Sept 6, 2019 over the series “From the MACC Files”, both in English and Bahasa Malaysia, published on Raja Petra’s online news portal Malaysia Today between Feb 24 to March 15, 2019.
The purported defamatory articles were in regard to MACC investigations into the issue of alleged corruption in the undersea tunnel project.
The DAP secretary-general filed an application for a judgment in default after Raja Petra failed to respond to a notice of suit that Lim placed in three newspapers on Feb 10 last year.
Lim had also attempted to serve a writ and statement of claim to Raja Petra by personal service at the blogger’s last known address, which was obtained from the National Registration Department and the Election Commission, but was unsuccessful.