Malaysiakini will know tomorrow whether the Federal Court allows the news portal’s appeal against a defamation suit by the Raub Australian Gold Mining (RAGM) company.

A five-member bench of the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya is set to deliver the decision via video conferencing at 9.30am on Friday.

The proceedings are set to be held online due to Putrajaya being under total lockdown for the movement control order (MCO 3.0).

Federal Court judges Vernon Ong Lam Kiat, Abdul Rahman Sebli, Zaleha Yusof, Hasnah Mohammed Hashim and Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal heard the appeal on Dec 1 last year.

After submissions from both parties on that day, the bench reserved judgment on the appeal.

Malaysiakini is appealing against a Court of Appeal decision in January 2018 which ordered the news portal to pay a sum of RM350,000, comprising RM200,000 in damages and another RM150,000 in legal costs, to RAGM for defamation.

The Court of Appeal overturned an earlier High Court decision in Kuala Lumpur that dismissed RAGM’s claim and ordered the gold mine to pay costs of RM50,000 to the defendants.

RAGM’s lawsuit was filed over a series of Malaysiakini reports on the health concerns of Bukit Koman villagers in Raub, Pahang, who had raised the alarm that cyanide was being used by the mine to extract gold.

Gold mine no longer in operation

The gold mine has since gone into voluntary liquidation and is no longer in operation.

Some of the key issues the Federal Court will determine in the appeal is whether a company in liquidation can still receive damages for defamation and the defence of reportage.

In the wake of the Court of Appeal decision, Malaysiakini managed to raise RM350,000 from its readers and supporters in two weeks to pay for the damages and costs.

Leave was granted to Malaysiakini to challenge the appellate court decision in July 2018.

Federal Court judge Zainun Ali, who led a three-member bench then, allowed nine questions of law to be posed to the apex court.