The Kuala Lumpur High Court today ordered former Selangor exco member Hasan Ali to pay Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad RM200,000 in general damages for defamation.

Hasan had at a public function a year before the 13th general election accused Khalid who was then a PAS central committee member of encouraging the sale of liquor and the presence of massage parlours, and that the people should not vote for him in the election.

Justice Hue Siew Kheng said the court found that Hasan, a former PAS member, had defamed Khalid based on testimonies of the plaintiff and his two witnesses.

In her oral decision, Hue said the two witnesses, former Selangor exco member Ronnie Liu and former Shah Alam PAS Youth chief, who also served as a local councillor, had testified that Khalid did not encourage the sale of liquor. 

“Following this, the plaintiff's claim is allowed. It cannot be stressed further that religion is a highly sensitive issue in this country. To accuse someone to be anti-Islam or traitor to the religion carries extremely dire consequences for the victim.

"The defendant's baseless allegation has brought him public odium and he has suffered as a result of it," she said.

Justice Hue also ordered Hasan to pay RM35,000 in costs.

Hasan's lawyer Hasnal Rezua Merican said his client would appeal today's decision.

Both Khalid and Hasan were not present.

The Shah Alam MP, who is now Parti Amanah Negara communications director and central committee member, was represented by lawyer Faiz Fadzil.

Hasan's earlier bid also dismissed

Earlier before delivering her verdict, Justice Hue also dismissed Hasan's application to challenge the court's decision last Dec 16 to strike out his defence.

The judge said there is no merit in Hasan's application, adding that an affidavit, in which he affirmed stating he could not attend court on that day as he was performing the umrah, to be misleading.

“He purportedly claimed that he was performing the umrah but the court found there was a propensity to mislead as there was no supporting evidence to support this,” she said.

As a result of the striking out of the defence and other court directions not being complied, Hasan did not testify.

Khalid filed the suit last year, following Hasan's claim of the Shah Alam MP allegedly supporting the illicit sale of alcohol and existence of gambling and massage parlours in Selangor four years ago.

In his statement of claim, the plaintiff claimed that Hasan had uttered the defamatory words during a talk at Dewan Rukun Tetangga Seksyen 17, Shah Alam, in 2013. He claimed the video of the speech was later edited and uploaded on YouTube, which could be easily accessed by the public.

Khalid had also claimed that the words spoken by Hasan were baseless, untrue and damaging to his reputation, image and good name as a PAS central committee member.

The plaintiff also alleged that Hasan's defamatory statement implied that he was an anti-Islam leader and betrayed the religion by defending the sale of alcohol, and the setting up of gambling centres and massage parlours which were against the teachings of Islam.