The New Straits Times (NST) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) have been ordered by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to pay RM150,000 each to lawyer Rosli Dahlan for defaming him in what is known as the "Copgate affair"

NONEThis comes after NST and MACC were sued for tarnishing Rosli's reputation by linking him with in the RM27 million Copgate affair that saw former Commercial Crimes Investigation Department director Ramli Yusuff (above) being charged in court and later acquitted.

Judicial Commissioner Siti Khadijah Badjenid, who found NST and MACC guilty of committing defamation, also ordered both to pay RM35,000 each in costs.

Rosli had earlier taken legal action against The Star and Utusan Malaysia as well and both dailies have apologised for defaming him in 2007.

Rosli was acquitted by the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur in 2010 on a charge of non-disclosure of his assets, which the prosecution and the then-Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) claimed were linked to Ramli, resulting in this suit.

The MACC filed an appeal against the acquittal with the High Court in Kuala Lumpur, but later withdrew it.

Malaysiakini has learned that following the string of wrongful accusation against him by the authorities, Ramli will be filing a civil suit against attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail and former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan soon.

Ramli had earlier this year filed defamation suits against several media groups, for defaming him as “the RM27 million cop”.

First court win against MACC

It is understood this case is a first win where a person charged by the MACC had taken action against the commission for defamation and won.

Judicial Commissioner Siti Khadijah in her judgment found the NST article not only to be defamatory but also false.

In calling it a “sting of defamation”, she said the article had resulted in people believing that Rosli was involved in keeping Ramli's assets. However, the evidence proved otherwise.

While NST had quoted ACA sources in its report, and when this was put to the MACC, it denied it.

However, the judge found that the MACC was liable as it uploaded the NST article on its website and also translated it.

"The MACC acted contrary to Section 21(4) of the ACA Act in releasing confidential investigations to the media."

Justice Siti  Khadijah said the NST had acted maliciously, where, being a premier newspaper and in trying to uplift its sales, it had released the article and this led the people to believe the allegations.

Rosli had in his trial called several witnesses, including the Al Ghufran mosque chairperson who said he knew Rosli as a respected person in the community who frequented the mosque but had believed in the report as it was published in a mainstream newspaper and came from ACA sources.

“This had affected Rosli's reputation, as he is also a lawyer from a reputed legal firm,” the court said in ordering the NST and MACC to pay the damages.

When Rosli was arrested in 2007, the MACC officers took him from his legal firm two days before Hari Raya, and charged him the next day on Hari Raya eve.

Ramli was charged a month later. Several media reports in 2007 had previously cited Ramli as being investigated over allegations of amassing assets, after he and his men had taken action against a Johor kingpin who was sent into restricted residence.

While the AG’s Chambers allegedly did not want to draft affidavits to defend the police action to place the kingpin into restricted residence, Ramli had sought Rosli’s help to draft them, resulting in the lawyer becoming entangled in the web.

Ramli’s men who took action against the kingpin were also implicated and charged at the Sessions Court, but they were later acquitted and fully reinstated during former IGP Ismail Omar’s time.