KUALA LUMPUR – A crowdfunding effort has been initiated to support former Penang deputy chief minister II P. Ramasamy’s payment of RM1.52 million to preacher Zakir Naik.
The fundraiser, initiated by non-governmental organisation Tamilar Kural Malaysia, started after Ramasamy was ordered to pay the amount after losing the defamation suit against Zakir earlier today.
Besides filing an appeal over the decision today, he also said any additional funds the initiative receives will be channelled back to the community in the form of financial aid.
“We will only raise a necessary amount. Any excess that comes to us will be donated to the public in the form of financial assistance to poor students, which I have done while I was in the Penang state government.
“It will be accountable and transparent. We will make sure that we continuously report on the amount received. If it exceeds the amount we need, it will be announced,” he told a press conference at Sentul here today.
Nonetheless, Ramasamy said he had nothing personal against Zakir, and only took issue when the latter “pinned the Muslims against the non-Muslims”.
“This is nothing personal. It is about asking him not to polarise the ethnic and religious situation in the country.
“There is no apology for what I did, and I think I did the right thing, but maybe the court thought otherwise,” he said, adding that the case was not personal.
Ramasamy said his actions were the “representation of the community”, and that he would continue to speak on behalf of the “voiceless” in Malaysia – irrespective of race.
Also present were former Bagan Dalam assemblyman M. Satees and former Seberang Perai councillor David Marshel.
Satees said should the Court of Appeal’s decision favour Ramasamy, all the amount collected in the crowdfunding will instead be used as financial aid.
Meanwhile, Marshel – who is also the founder and advisor of the NGO – said the crowdfunding was initiated in solidarity with Ramasamy, as the decision by the high court today affected the non-Malay community as a whole.
Earlier today, Ramasamy was ordered by the Kuala Lumpur High Court to pay RM1.52 million after losing the defamation suit with Zakir.
Judge Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz made the ruling after finding that Zakir had fulfilled three elements of defamation in his claim against Ramasamy.
She ordered Ramasamy to pay RM1 million in general damages, RM100,000 in compensatory damages, RM100,000 in aggravated damages, and RM250,000 in exemplary damages to Zakir for all the former’s statements.
She proceeded to grant RM70,000 in global costs to Zakir, which will be paid by Ramasamy as well, which amounts to a total of RM1.52 million.
Zakir had filed two suits in 2019, claiming that Ramasamy made five defamatory statements about him.
In his statement, Zakir claimed that Ramasamy defamed him on April 10, 2016, by describing the former as “satan” on Facebook.
Subsequently, he added Ramasamy defamed him by publishing articles on a local news outlet claiming that Malaysia was harbouring a “fugitive from India” on October 1, 2017.
On August 11, 2019, he also “manipulated” comments made by Zakir during a speech at an event organised by the Kelantan government.
A few days later, Ramasamy again defamed Zakir in an interview with India Today on August 20, 2019, which the former said was laced with “hatred and spite”. – November 2, 2023