Muslim preacher Zakir Naik and Bagan Dalam assemblyperson Satees Muniandy have reached a consent judgment to settle the former's defamation suit against the latter.

The consent judgment was recorded before the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today before judicial commissioner Johan Lee Abdullah, with the presence of Zakir and Satees as well as their legal teams.

According to a copy of the consent judgment, it stated that the civil action is resolved with finality with no admission of liability, as well as with no order as to costs.

Zakir filed the lawsuit against Satees in 2019 over two statements carried in online news articles: firstly the assemblyperson's remarks regarding the then Malaysian government mass arrests linked to the defunct militant group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and secondly a statement linked to the preacher's ceramah in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, that same year.

When contacted today, Satees’ counsel Gunamalar Joorindanjn confirmed the outcome of the civil court proceedings.

Similar suits

Besides Satees, Zakir in 2019 had also filed similar defamation suits against former human resources minister M Kulasegaran, Penang deputy chief minister II P Ramasamy, then Klang MP Charles Santiago, and former ambassador Dennis J Ignatius.

The civil actions were partly over the defendants’ public statements regarding the ceramah which was alleged to have questioned the loyalty of the ethnic Indian community in Malaysia.

Some of the lawsuits however touched on remarks over Zakir’s alleged link with the mass LTTE mass arrests in Malaysia.

However, since then, Zakir’s civil suits against Kulasegaran and Charles have since been resolved, alongside today’s resolution with Satees.

Zakir was represented by lawyer Akberdin Abdul Kader.

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