Hannah loses ‘Christian nation’ libel suit against ex-IGP Musa

Hannah loses ‘Christian nation’ libel suit against ex-IGP Musa

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has dismissed youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh’s lawsuit accusing former inspector-general of police (IGP) Musa Hassan of defaming her by saying she had tried to turn Malaysia into a “Christian nation”.

Judicial commissioner Arziah Apandi said Yeoh had failed to prove her claim on a balance of probabilities.

Arziah said Musa’s speech at a UiTM forum on Jan 30, 2020 did not specifically refer to Yeoh, and that many of his remarks referred to other people.

“This essential element is not established as most of the alleged defamatory content did not specifically refer to the plaintiff (Yeoh),” she said.

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The court also took note that the forum, broadcast on Facebook live, had an engagement rate of less than 1%.

“No negative comments were directed at the plaintiff, and there was no evidence of widespread dissemination,” Arziah said, adding that Musa had no control over the publication of his speech as he was only a guest speaker.

She also ruled that Musa’s remarks were not motivated by malice.

“The defendant was the IGP from 2006 to 2010, and had a moral and social duty to speak on matters affecting national security.

The court said that “while responsible speech is important, public figures must expect and tolerate robust criticism and debate about their public statements and activities”.

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Yeoh was represented by lawyers, Ambiga Sreenevasan, Razlan Hadri Zulkifli and Lim Wei Jiet while Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz appeared for Musa.

Lim said they would be appealing today’s decision.

Yeoh sued Musa in 2020 over his allegation that she had tried to turn Malaysia into a Christian nation.

Musa allegedly told the forum that an unnamed group had tried to destroy Islam in the country. He said there were links between the group and DAP.

He was also alleged to have said that Yeoh had written a book “to make this country a Christian country”.

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Yeoh previously published an autobiography, titled “Becoming Hannah, a Personal Journey”, describing her journey as an ordinary Malaysian woman whose life was transformed through her Christian faith, which later led her into politics.

It was criticised in May 2017 by a Universiti Utara Malaysia political scientist as an example of DAP’s alleged hypocrisy about the need to separate politics from religion.

Yeoh had sought general, aggravated, and exemplary damages from Musa, and an injunction to restrain him and other parties from further publishing the alleged statements.