Teacher’s RM6 million defamation suit goes to trial
Posted on June 20, 2012, Wednesday
KOTA KINABALU: The High Court set Nov 5 to 7, this year to hear a suit instituted by a secondary school teacher against a professor, two teachers and an assistant manager over alleged defamatory articles posted on Facebook.
Justice Dato’ Abdul Rahman Sebli fixed the dates to hear the suit brought by Salleh Berindi Othman, 37, when the case came up for case management on Monday.
Salleh Berindi, who teaches at SMK Inanam, is seeking RM2 million in damages each from the first and second defendants (the professor and one of the teachers) and RM1 million each from the third and fourth defendants (the other teacher and assistant manager).
In his suit filed on April 13, the plaintiff also seeks for an injunction to restrain the defendants from repeating and re-publishing the same or similar defamatory words, and costs, and other reliefs deemed just and fit.
In his statement of claim, the plaintiff, who previously taught at SMK Pulau Gaya from Jan 2009 to May 16, 2011, claimed that the first, second and third defendants had caused to write and published defamatory comments against him on the Facebook page of the second defendant on May 28, 2011.
Salleh Berindi alleged that on Oct 17, 2011, the second defendant posted another article on Facebook, in which the second, third and fourth defendants posted defamatory comments against him.
He contended that all the defendants knew that the defamatory words could be understood to mean that the plaintiff was wrong in filing another defamation suit against the third defendant and that the plaintiff was an immoral person and doing a meaningless job.
Salleh Berindi also claimed that as a result of the publication on Facebook of the articles which contained the defamatory words, his reputation has been damaged, lowered and exposed to humiliation and embarrassment.
The plaintiff, who was unrepresented, would call three witnesses during the trial, while the defendants, who were represented by counsel Rizwandean Bukhari Borhan, would produce eight witnesses.
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