KUALA LUMPUR: Former Klang MP Charles Santiago has apologised to preacher Dr Zakir Naik for defaming the latter in a 'ceramah' four years ago.
Santiago made the apology here on Monday after the High Court here found that he had defamed the preacher in his statement entitled 'Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ' at a public talk on Nov 25, 2019.
"The implication that can be derived from the remarks against the plaintiff is that he had an influence over the police and the Government in the arrest of the two DAP members," he said. "The court therefore rules that the plaintiff is not entitled to any damages but as the second statement is defamatory, the court directs the defendant to apologise publicly for the remarks made linking the plaintiff to the arrest of the two DAP members," Justice Akhtar said here in open court on Monday .
On another impugned statement by Santiago through a press statement entitled"Wednesday Cabinet meeting Must Discuss Zakir Naik's meddling into Politics" made on Aug 13, 2019, the court found that the statement was a fair comment and not defamatory. The court had first analysed the event in Kelantan which sparked the defendant's press statement and found"The misconception of Islam by the non-Muslims" to be an inappropriate topic in the Malaysian context as there was nothing to suggest there was a widespread misconception of Islam by the non-Muslims in Malaysia.
"In fact, the court noted that the plaintiff’s remarks had attracted a rebuke from the Malaysian Prime Minister and many other politicians.
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