KOTA KINABALU: The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court decision for an oil palm planter to pay RM100,000 in damages to former Sabah deputy chief minister Datuk Christina Liew over malicious statements he made in a viral video about her.
The three-member panel comprising Justices Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, Datuk Abu Bakar Jais and Datuk Supang Lian unanimously discovered on Wednesday (June 15) that there have been no deserves in Leksun Injil’s attraction.
In the High Court, trial choose Judicial Commissioner Justice Leonard David Shim had discovered Leksun liable in uttering defamatory phrases towards Liew in regard to the Bagahak Plantation Scheme.
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Justice Shim had, on the finish of the trial in January final yr, awarded damages in the sum of RM100,000 to be paid by Leksun to Liew.
Leksun then appealed towards the decision.
Leksun was discovered to have uttered the offending phrases on the Gaya Street Sunday Market three days earlier than polling day for the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018 the place Liew was nominated as PKR’s candidate for the Api Api state seat and Tawau parliamentary seat.
Liew had initiated the suit towards Leksun, 56, on April 30, 2019, looking for damages for libel, together with aggravated or various damages for slander.
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She had alleged that Leksun had uttered slanderous and defamatory statements towards her in a video recording of himself, which went viral on social media, over the Bagahak Smallholders Scheme in east coast Lahad Datu.
Liew was represented by counsel Datuk Alex Decena and Jordan Kong whereas legal professionals Yong Yit Jee and Shim Mong Seng appeared for Leksun.
