Jalur Tiga Malaysia (Jati) president Hasan Mohamed Ali yesterday won the defamation suit against Shah Alam member of Parliament and Selangor PAS deputy commissioner III Khalid Abdul Samad for making defamatory statements about him at a press conference in February 2012.     

Judge Yaacob Md Sam held that the plaintiff, Hasan, had managed to prove Khalid's statement was made with malice and scheduled Nov 27 for the decision on damages and cost.       

NONE"Weighing the statements and submissions from both parties, the court finds that the defendant had gone beyond self-defence during the press conference. He had passed the limit and touched upon an issue which was unrelated to the matter accused by the plaintiff, namely the 'parasite' issue.       

"The defendant's statement was more than fair comment and cannot be protected under qualified privilege). The plaintiff has proven that the defendant's statement was malicious and therefore the court allows the claim with costs," he said.      

Hasan, who is also former Selangor PAS commissioner and state executive council member, filed the defamation suit on April 12 claiming Khalid (above) had uttered defamatory words against him at a press conference on Feb 24 last year.       

Hasan claimed that Khalid had further published the words in an article on his blog and that the reporters at the press conference had posted it on the news portals mstar and Malaysiakini.     

Hasan sought general, exemplary and aggravated damages and an injunction to prevent Khalid from further publishing the defamatory statement.     

Five witnesses were called upon throughout the hearing, two for the plaintiff and three for the defendant.      

Hasan was represented by counsel Hasnal Rezua Merican, while defence counsel Azhana Mohd Khairudin appeared for Khalid.     

- Bernama