KUALA LUMPUR: Former Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, has been awarded RM2.5 million in damages in a defamation lawsuit he filed against Mohd Rasyiq Mohd Alwi, also known as Ustaz Abu Syafiq, over social media posts related to the COVID-19 vaccine made three years ago.
High Court Judge, Datuk Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan, also awarded RM50,000 in costs to the former Rembau Member of Parliament.
On January 25, 2022, Khairy sued Rasyiq for allegedly making several defamatory statements, including posting three videos and photos on ‘Ustaz Abu Syafiq’s’ Instagram on October 20, 2021, and January 6 and 10, 2022.
Khairy claimed that the defamatory statements meant, among other things, that he lied and deceived the public by claiming that he had been given the COVID-19 vaccine and received the third dose, as well as falsifying information regarding his vaccination status.
In his judgment, Raja Ahmad said the court found that the impugned statements, in their natural and ordinary meaning, impute dishonourable or discreditable conduct and a lack of integrity to the plaintiff.
“As a result, these statements tend to lower the plaintiff’s reputation in the eyes of right-thinking members of society, which has an adverse and direct effect on his reputation in government and exposes him to hatred, contempt, ridicule or avoidance by that society.
“These statements are inherently damaging to the plaintiff’s ministerial and personal reputation.
“As a result, I agree with the plaintiff after reviewing the testimony and documents provided by him, indicating that such statements are unquestionably false, baseless, unsubstantiated, and unwarranted,” he said.
The judge said the court accepted the plaintiff’s evidence, including that the claim about the third vaccine dose requirement for Malaysian Muslims performing umrah is true, as it matches Saudi Arabia’s rule for those who received the Sinovac or Sinopharm vaccines.
“The plaintiff did not discuss specific vaccine brand requirements for umrah or haj.
“At the press conference on December 28, 2021, the plaintiff emphasised the Ministry of Health’s intention to cooperate with the tourism companies managing the umrah package to ensure that all Malaysians wishing to perform umrah would receive their booster doses.
“There were no restrictions on vaccine brands or requirements by the Saudi Arabian government mentioned by the plaintiff,” he said.
Regarding the second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth defamatory statements, the judge said the court found that the plaintiff was vaccinated twice and received his booster dose, as confirmed by PW2 (former Health Director-General of Malaysia, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah).
He said according to the evidence, Khairy had volunteered to take part in an informal study to measure his antibody levels after receiving a third dose, as he was first vaccinated with Sinovac on March 18, 2021 and then vaccinated with Pfizer (Comirnaty) on September 4, the same year as his third dose.
“In fact, when the then Prime Minister and PW2 (Dr Noor Hisham) took Pfizer vaccine doses as the first and second Malaysians to do so, the plaintiff purposely chose not to take this vaccine as his first dose.
“The plaintiff, however, waited and then took the CoronaVac vaccine (Sinovac) as his first and second doses after sensing that public perception was somewhat doubtful at the early stage of the vaccine implementation period, to ensure public trust in other vaccines, apart from Pfizer,” he said.
The judge further said there was not a shred of evidence to show that Khairy, as then Minister of Health, failed to manage and curtail the spread of COVID-19, as suggested by the defendant.
“In fact, Malaysia’s ability to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic under the plaintiff’s leadership as Minister of Health has been recognised worldwide.
“According to PW2, Malaysia has been hailed as one of the successful nations when it comes to managing, dealing with, and curbing the deadly disease,” he added. – BERNAMA
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