The High Court here has ordered Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin to pay RM2 million to Universiti Utara Malaysia vice-chancellor Tan Sri Dr Nordin Kardi in general damages over a libellous article he posted on his website 'Malaysia Today' two years ago. In the landmark case against a blogger, Deputy High Court Registrar Priscilla Gengadaran also ordered Raja Petra to pay RM2 million, also in general damages, to the university over the article which appeared in his website on Dec 16, 2006.
Nordin, the first plaintiff and UUM, the second plaintiff, filed the suit against Raja Petra, the first defendant and three others - Parti Keadilan Rakyat (second defendant), chief editor of the opposition party's organ, Suara Keadilan (third defendant) and editor of the bulletin (fourth defendant) - on Feb 25 last year.
In his statement of claim against the four, Nordin and UUM had claimed that Raja Petra and the three defendants had published the libellous article against him and the university with the intention to tarnish his and UUM's good name and integrity.
The article, 'Dato' Dr Nordin Kardi Ciplak Karya Saya? Mohon Penjelasan...(Dato' Dr Nordin Kardi plagiarises my works? Please Explain..) was first published in Raja Petra's website, 'Malaysia Today', on Dec 16, 2006.
The article, authored by one Muhtar Suhaili, had claimed his works, 'Mahasiswa dan Tanggujawab Menguruskan Kejayaan (Graduands and the Responsibility in Managing Success) was plagiarised by a person which had used the name Dato' Nordin Kardi.
As it turned out, Raja Petra had picked up the article which was posted on a website, http://muhtarsuhaili.tripod.com The article was subsequently published in 'Suara Keadilan' on Dec 27, 2006.
In her judgement, Priscilla also ordered the Raja Petra to pay RM2 million to UUM. She also ordered the chief editor and editor of 'Suara Keadilan', to each pay Nordin RM1 million for publishing the article. She also ordered the third and fourth defendants to each pay UUM RM500,000 over the article.
Priscilla issued her judgment after Raja Petra, the third and fourth defendants did not defend themselves and had also failed to appoint counsel over the defamation suit. Nordin and UUM were represented by Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz.
Priscilla, however, has yet to fix a trial date for PKR, which was represented by R. Sivarasa.
Meanwhile, Nordin described the judgment as a landmark decision against cyber misconduct. "I hope others who might have been defamed by cyber misconduct would consider legal action against the wrongdoers. I also hope the High court decision would serve as a deterent against any attempt to invade the integrity of an individual or an institution," he said.
NST online
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