KJ’s defamation suit against Lokman settled without trial

Umno Supreme Council member Lokman Noor Adam will publish an apology and pay former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin an unspecified amount as compensation.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s defamation suit against Umno Supreme Council member Lokman Noor Adam over social media posts linked to Covid-19 vaccination programmes has been settled without a trial in the High Court.

A consent judgment was recorded before Justice Johan Lee today. The court had earlier fixed three days for the trial, but Johan thanked the parties for settling the suit amicably.

Lawyer Abdul Rashid Ismail informed Johan that the terms of the settlement included Lokman’s agreement to remove seven postings comprising video, captions and a photograph from his Facebook and YouTube accounts.

“The defendant will publish an apology in English and Bahasa Malaysia on his Facebook within 30 days,” he said.

Rashid said Lokman would also pay Khairy an undisclosed sum as compensation.

The court made no order as to costs.

Khairy was present in court but Lokman, who was represented by Logen Eskandar Abdullah, was absent.

In February 2022, Khairy, who was the health minister at the time, filed two separate suits, naming Lokman and preacher Rasyiq Alwi Rasyiq, better known as Ustaz Abu Syafiq, as the defendants.

He sued the two men over a series of social media posts they had made between Oct 20, 2021 and Jan 10, 2022.

Khairy, who was also chairman of the Covid-19 immunisation task force, said the defendants had defamed him through social media posts containing several allegations linked to the government’s Covid-19 vaccination efforts.

He said these included an allegation that he had acted recklessly and irresponsibly in the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines for the government’s vaccination programmes, as well as claims linked to his Covid-19 vaccination status.

He said the social media posts by the defendants were against public interest as they had undermined Putrajaya’s efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Khairy said the allegedly defamatory statements also seriously injured his credibility and goodwill and caused him distress.

He said they had likewise eroded the trust and confidence of the public in his personal and professional capacity, and had also caused him to be brought into public scandal, odium and contempt.

Khairy had sought an unspecified amount in damages and the removal of the allegedly defamatory postings.

He also wanted Lokman and Rasyiq to publish a retraction and public apology on their YouTube pages and other social media accounts identified by him.

Khairy argued that he had acted to “take into account the safety and well-being of the Malaysian public about the implementation of the Covid-19 vaccination programmes”.

“The nature of the defendants’ defamatory publications is designed to undermine the efforts by the plaintiff, the efforts of everyone in the health ministry, and the government, in the existing battle against Covid-19.

“The publications have harmed society’s response to Covid-19, undermining the official data and facts provided by the health ministry to the public,” he said.

Rashid later told reporters that Rasyiq’s case would be heard in court soon.