JUDGMENT

Elaine Yap Chin Gaik JC:

Introduction

[1] The Appellant/Defendant was found liable to the Respondent/Plaintiff for defamation after a full trial, and was ordered by the Sessions Court to pay global damages of RM100,000.00, issue a public apology and an admission that the impugned statements are false and be restrained by an injunction from repeating the libel, with costs of RM30,000.00.

[2] Referring to the parties as they were in the Court below, this Court heard the Defendant's appeal and allowed the appeal, set aside the Judgment of the Sessions Court and ordered costs at the High Court and below in the sum of RM30,000.00 for the Defendant. The Plaintiff has appealed to the Court of Appeal against this decision.

Undisputed Facts

[3] The Plaintiff was at the time when the facts leading to the action in the Court below unfolded, a senior lecturer at Universiti Utara Malaysia. The Defendant was the CEO of Yayasan Kebajikan Negara and held positions in Pertubuhan IKRAM Malaysia and Parti Pejuang Tanah Air.

[4] On 29 April 2021, the Defendant published the following pleaded words on her Facebook page ("Impugned Words"):

"Tak insaf-insaf lagi hamba Allah ini. Yang haira