A plaintiff in defamation must prove publication, reference, and defamatory meaning, while the burden of proof remains until established.

JUDGMENT

Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh J:

Introduction

[1] This is a claim for damages in respect of a libel contained in a Facebook post that went for full trial. At the close of the plaintiff's case, a submission of no case to answer, was made by the defendant. On 14 March 2022, after considering the written submissions made by the parties, I allowed the plaintiff's claim and made the following orders on the reliefs that were sought:

(i) RM150,000.00 as general damages;

(ii) RM100,000.00 as aggravated damages and exemplary damages;

(iii) that the defendant publish a full apology to the plaintiff in respect of the defamatory statement in which the contents of the apology will be approved by the plaintiff's solicitors and any amendment by the plaintiff's solicitors shall be final.

(iv) the defendant's Facebook account setting be set for "public viewing" and the apology shall tag with @cmlimguaneng and remain published on the defendant's Facebook;

(v) the defendant be restrained from publishing the entire or any part of the Facebook post in the future; and

(vi) interest on the damages awarded at 5% a year from the date of filing of the writ until the date of full settlement.

[2] This judgment contains the full grounds for my decision.

Background

[3] The plaintiff at the material time was the Chief Minister of Penang, Member of Parliament for Bagan, State Assemblyman for Air Putih and the Secretary General of the Democratic Action Party. The defendant was the Commissioner of Parti Islam Se-Malaysia ("PAS") for the State of Perak.

[4] On 18 November 2017 the defendant had posted a Facebook post which contained the plaintiff's name and picture on his personal Facebook account: https://web.facebook.com/razman.zakaria 5 ("his/the Facebook account"). The post also depicts a picture of a woman wearing a tudung. The plaintiff claims that the post contains the following false and defamatory statements:

"(i) Doa moga ini tidak betul. Kalau ianya benar pertimbangkanlah jika anda sudah terlajak bersama PAN;

(ii) LARANGAN BERTUDUNG itu hak pengusaha hotel, Pulau Pinang sokong sepenuhnya "Guan Eng"; and?

(iii) PULAU PINANG SOKONG LARANGAN BERTUDUNG."

[5] The plaintiff's demanded from the defendant for a retraction, removal, apology and damages were not agreed by the defendant. As a result, the plaintiff caused to be commenced this instant action seeking the reliefs stated in para [1] above.

The Statement Of Claim

[6] The plaintiff alleged in para 4 of the statement of claim that on 18 November 2017 the defendant, in his capacity as the Commissioner of PAS for the State of Perak, had:

(a) authored and displayed a false image (the Facebook image); and

(b) authored and uploaded false statements (the false statements)

which are defamatory of the plaintiff, in its ordinary and natural meaning or by way of innuendo, on his Facebook account. The image and statements are collectively referred to hereinafter as the impugned Facebook post.

[7] In para 5 of the statement of claim, it was in the alternative pleaded that the defendant had uploaded the Facebook image on his Facebook account without confirming its validity together with the false defamatory statements authored by him. On reading the statement of claim as a whole I understood this alternative act as the defendant uploading on his Facebook account the Facebook image from an unverified source with the false statements stated therein authored by the defendant.

[8] In para 7 of the statement of claim it is pleaded that the Facebook post referred to the plaintiff. In paras 8 and 9 of the statement of claim the particulars of publication were pleaded as follows: the defendant had uploaded the impugned Facebook post on his Facebook account, or alternatively, the defendant had published the Facebook image post he had taken from an unverified source and added the false statements before uploading on his Facebook account. In para 10 of the statement of claim it is pleaded that the Facebook account is easily accessible by the