'Christianisation' claim: Ex-IGP ordered to pay Yeoh RM250k

The Court of Appeal has ordered former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan to pay RM250,000 in damages to Segambut MP and Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh for defamation.

The court made the ruling after allowing the minister’s appeal. The court heard the appeal submissions from both parties last October.

This is over Musa’s remarks at a Universiti Teknologi Mara forum on Jan 30, 2020, where he claimed that an unnamed group with links to DAP was attempting to destroy Islam.

Musa (above, right) also claimed that Yeoh had authored a book with the intention of turning Malaysia into a Christian country.

Yeoh filed the defamation suit on July 3, 2020, following Musa’s speech at the forum titled “Wacana Isu Semasa Perjanjian Damai Hat Yai 1989: PKM Menyerah Diri?” (The Hat Yai Peace Accords: Did the Communist Party of Malaya surrender?), organised by UiTM’s Institute of Malay Rulers.

In his speech, Musa was alleged to have suggested that DAP had published a book on the purported role of the Malays behind the May 13 riots, among others.

In her statement of claim, Yeoh alleged, among other things, that the speech contained defamatory statements that were wholly untrue, disparaging, vexatious, spurious, fallacious and without basis.

Musa had also testified in July 2024 that he had never seen documentary evidence that Yeoh tried to turn Malaysia into a Christian nation.

Fundamental error

However, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Yeoh’s suit on Dec 23, 2024, and ordered her to pay him RM40,000 in costs.

Judicial Commissioner Arziah Apandi said there were no malicious elements proven in the suit and that Musa had reasonable grounds to have made such a statement, following Yeoh’s admission and writings in her book titled “Becoming Hannah”.

She also said the constitutional right to freedom of expression must be robustly protected, especially in matters of public interest and statements made during privileged occasions.

Arziah added that Musa, being a former IGP, had a moral and social duty to speak on matters affecting national security.

On Oct 17 last year, Yeoh’s lawyer told the Court of Appeal that the High Court had committed a fundamental error of law by relying on irrelevant analysis, which led to the suit being dismissed.

Razlan Hadri Zulkifli cited several aspects of the court’s reasoning that he said were irrelevant, including a finding that Yeoh had failed to produce documentary evidence to show that Musa’s statement referred to her.

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