Defamation suit: Farmer, The Star ordered to pay Perak rep RM320k

Sungkai state assemblyperson A Sivanesan has won RM320,000 in damages in his defamation suit against a farmer as well as English daily The Star and its journalist.

The High Court in Shah Alam ordered Poh Wai Sheng, a farmer from Kampung Baharu Kuala Bikam in Perak, to pay RM50,000 in damages.

The Star Media Group and its writer Foong Pek Yee were ordered to pay the former Perak executive councillor RM200,000 and RM70,000 respectively.

In his decision delivered via email yesterday, Judicial Commissioner Tee Geok Hock, however, dismissed Sivanesan’s defamation suit against MCA president Wee Ka Siong, who posted a comment on social media on the issue.

Tee also ordered The Star and Foong to publish an apology to Sivanesan in their newspaper and online portal.

All three defendants were requested to publish a withdrawal of the defamatory articles from the newspaper and online portal.

The suit concerns two articles published in The Star that highlighted farmers in Kampung Baharu Kuala Bikam who expressed fears that over 76.9ha of lands with fruit trees were being bulldozed by a sand mining company. The articles also featured Wee’s comment on the matter.

In August 2018, Sivanesan served a legal notice to Poh and Foong to retract their statements.

Sivanesan, via his counsel, also demanded that Foong apologise and compensate him a proposed amount.

He then filed a defamation suit against the four defendants following the publication of two articles, titled “Farmers angered as farms are bulldozed” and “Wee: Farmers who lost their farmland deserve answer”. Both articles were published on Aug 4, 2018.

According to Sivanesan, the previous state government granted a permit for Pengurusan Pasir Perak Sdn Bhd to transport silica sand out of the village.

The relevant sand mining area had been occupied by farmers who operated the farms illegally, he claimed.

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