Jeff Ooi ordered to pay RM150,000 in defamation suit

The Jelutong MP was found guilty of defaming former Penang Municipal councillor Mohd Razali Abdullah.

(Bernama) – The Penang High Court today ruled that Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi Chuan Aun from DAP was guilty of defamation and ordered him to pay RM150,000 to former Penang Municipal councillor Mohd Razali Abdullah.

Judicial Commissioner Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera also ordered Ooi to pay RM20,000 in cost and interests of 8 percent to be calculated from the date of judgment until the date of settlement.

In his suit, Mohd Razali, 49, claimed that Ooi had slandered him repeatedly and caused defamatory statements to be published by newspapers, websites and news portals in 2009 when he was a municipal councillor, and some of the defamatory words were repeated in newspapers in January 2010.

Vazeer Alam made the judgment after listening to submissions from Ooi’s counsel Jagdeep Singh Deo and Mohd Razali’s lawyer Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor but Mohd Razali who is a Pusat Urus Zakat (PUZ) Board director was not present as he was on official assignment in Egypt.

The court also allowed an injunction to stop the defendant from repeating and publishing the defamatory statements.

On Feb 1, last year, former PKR member Mohd Razali claimed that Ooi had defamed him by stating, among others, that he was a religious extremist, was incapable of acting professionally in carrying out his duties as a councillor despite his qualification as a land surveyor, and had mental problems with the innuendo that he was a mad man.

The alleged slanderous articles were published by a number of local dailies, including Chinese dailies in 2009.