Television station TV3 is to pay RM200,000 in damages to former Perak menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin for defaming him, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur decided today.

Nizar’s lawyer, Mohd Fitri Asmuni, told reporters the sum covers aggravated and exemplary damages. There were no orders on cost.

The ruling was made by deputy registrar Hanie Dzatul Akhmar Zulkefli this morning.

“In conclusion, the court took into consideration five factors: the status of the plaintiff Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, the defendant (TV3’s) actions after the making defamatory statements […]

“(The court also factored in) the coverage of the news whereby a witness of the defendant said the coverage was huge and reached more than 2.8 million viewers, the impact of the coverage on the plaintiff, and the nature of the defamation, which a judge said was very serious,” Fitri told reporters when met after the ruling was made.

Fitri and TV3’s lawyer Lim Qi Si both said they would seek further instructions from their respective clients following today’s court decision.

Fitri explained that the court took into account various posts held by Nizar – including being the state opposition leader, then Perak PAS deputy commissioner, and an MP – and the fact that TV3 had refused to apologise even after the Court of Appeal found it liable for defamation.

The court also took into account the fact that TV3’s defamatory report on May 30, 2012 did not reflect Nizar’s original words, but had added to them.

“In conclusion, the court said that they (TV3) had failed to practise responsible journalism. That was the exemplary damages,” Fitri said.

As for aggravated damages, Fitri said that the court took account of the fact that TV3 tried its utmost to defend its defamatory statements.

Firstly, in its statement of claim, TV3 had pleaded all three available defences to defamation. When found liable by the Court of Appeal, it applied for a revision of the Court of Appeal's decision, before finally bringing the case to the Federal Court.

Nizar had filed the suit in July 2012 claiming RM50 million in damages from TV3 and Utusan Malaysia for running reports ‘manipulating’ is tweet on the Johor Sultan’s RM520,000 bid on the WWW1 car registration number.

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur had ruled in TV3’s favour, saying that Nizar had clearly insulted the ruler, but the decision was unanimously overturned by a three-member bench at the Court of Appeal. The latter ordered the High Court to assess damages.

TV3 then brought the case to the Federal Court and made claims of judicial bias, but this was unanimously dismissed by the Federal Court.