Shankar (right) speaks with Yu (second left) and his team at the end of the proceedings.
KUCHING (Aug 16): The High Court here was told today that Facebook posts made by Sarawak Democratic Action Party chairman Chong Chieng Jen regarding the Covid-19 food aid allocation in 2020 were re-published on other social media platforms.
Yu Ying Ying, who is the 11th plaintiff witness and also one of the lawyers representing plaintiff Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, testified that prior to April 23, 2020, she had come across defendant Chong’s first and second Facebook posts regarding the matter “all around social media.”
She said this during cross-examination by Chong’s counsel Michael Kong, who then asked her to name the social media platforms where she had seen the two said Facebook posts.
Yu: I can’t remember exactly what social media platform it appeared, but I remember Covid-19 and Covid-19 food aid were very big things in 2020 and the defendant’s Facebook posts were all around social media. Moreover, the posts were also republished by several news portals.
Kong then instructed Yu to refer to the Bundle of Documents and show the court whether there were any documents evidencing that the defendant’s first and second Facebook posts were reproduced or re-shared on other social media platforms other than Facebook.
Yu: If you are just talking about social media, it is not shown in the Bundle (of Documents) but as I have said earlier, it was published all over the internet.
She also disagreed when Kong asked if she was on a specific task to track down the posts and that the said posts did not appear automatically on her Facebook newsfeed.
“Firstly, the defendant’s first and second Facebook posts did appear on my Facebook newsfeed.
“Secondly, the first and second Facebook posts of the defendant are traced in order for a complete and efficient extraction process of Facebook,” she replied.
In 2020, Dr Sim, who is Deputy Premier and Sarawak United People’s Party president, filed the defamation suit over Chong’s allegation that Dr Sim had failed to manage Covid-19 food aid funds worth RM800,000 meant for four opposition-held state constituencies – Padungan, Batu Lintang, Pending and Kota Sentosa.
Dr Sim is represented by Shankar Ram who is assisted by Yu and Russell Lim, while Chong is represented by Kong, Chong Siew Chiang and Brenda Chong.
The defamation suit is being heard before judge Dato Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab.