KUALA LUMPUR – A Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) lecturer has been ordered to pay RM400,000 in damages to Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh for defamatory Facebook posts made in 2017, accusing her of advancing a Christian agenda.
The high court today ruled in Yeoh’s favour, with judge Datuk Aliza Sulaiman finding that Kamarul Zaman Yusoff had defamed the Segambut MP in two posts published between May 10 and 17 that year.
The posts claimed Yeoh was using her political platform to proselytise and cited her autobiography, “Becoming Hannah: A Personal Journey”, as alleged evidence that she aimed to turn Malaysia into a Christian nation.
Kamarul Zaman denied the claims were defamatory, arguing his statements were justified. However, the court held that Yeoh had proven her case on the balance of probabilities, reports said.
“He (the defendant) suggests the plaintiff (Hannah) is a threat to Islam and used her position to ‘Christianise’ the country.
“In a multiracial and multireligious country where the issue of religion is, of course, very sensitive, this would surely expose the plaintiff to hatred, ridicule and contempt,” said Aliza as quoted by Bernama.
The judge found that none of the defences raised – justification, fair comment or qualified privilege – were successfully established.
“Even if the defences of fair comment and qualified privilege were established, the plaintiff had pleaded particulars of malice in the reply to the defence, and in my view has proven on the balance of probabilities that the defendant was actuated by malice,” she added.
Judge Aliza further held that if the defendant genuinely believed the plaintiff had committed an offence, lodging a police report would have sufficed—instead, he chose to publish the allegations on Facebook.
She noted that publication was not in dispute, and it was evident from both the titles and content that the statements were directed specifically at Yeoh.
The court also rejected the defence’s claim that the first publication targeted DAP as a party rather than Yeoh personally.
“Even the defendant’s own pleadings mentioned the plaintiff by name, and the title of the article made the target unmistakable. The defendant’s personal understanding of the book is not relevant, as what matters is how an ordinary reader would interpret the statements.
“The readers would reasonably believe that the plaintiff was spreading Christianity unlawfully and, by implication, committing a crime,” she said.
Aliza found that Yeoh had successfully proven her case on the balance of probabilities, and that Kamarul Zaman acted with malice.
“The court awards RM400,000 as general and aggravated damages to be paid by the defendant to the plaintiff. This means, RM200,000 per publication and RM80,000 in costs,” she said.
However, the court dismissed Yeoh’s application for a public apology, noting that it could be perceived as insincere. An injunction was granted to restrain the defendant, his agents or servants from republishing the defamatory words or similar statements.
Yeoh was present in court today with her lawyer, Sangeet Kaur Deo. The defendant was not present.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Yeoh expressed gratitude to her legal team and said the ruling marked the end of a long ordeal.
“After enduring years of defamation, justice has finally prevailed. These allegations were entirely false, and I have been praying since 2017 for this. I sincerely hope that moving forward, no one will resort to exploiting religious sentiments or spreading baseless accusations about me or my book.
“The court has acknowledged that the issue at hand involved religious sentiment.
“In a multiracial and multireligious country like ours, invoking such sentiments is akin to playing with fire. It is dangerous, especially when it involves slander. I believe slander is prohibited in Islam,” she said. – May 30, 2025