By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, July 31: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen has decided to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal against him in a defamation suit linked to his 2013 ‘RM11 billion black hole’ remarks.
In a statement, Chong stated that the court’s decision is contrary to the public interest.
“I have decided to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal against me on the ‘Black Hole’ case, not only because the decision of the Court of Appeal imposing an award of RM300,000 in damages and RM200,000 costs against me, but, more importantly, it is my view that the decision of the court is contrary to the public interest.
“In gist, the Court of Appeal has, inter alia, decided that, in Malaysia, a government can sue its citizen for defamation,” he said.
He said that in most Commonwealth countries which practise the common law system, the courts have held that the government has no right to sue for defamation against its citizens, claiming that courts in England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa adhered to this position, which includes that a government has no right to sue a person for defamation.
Chong explained that this is based on the fundamental principle that the people elect the government and should be open to criticism by the people, and that allowing a government to sue a citizen for defamation will inhibit freedom of speech.
“This widely accepted common law position was totally overturned in my ‘Black Hole’ case where the government of Sarawak sued me for defamation, and the courts allowed such action to be maintained by the government.
“So far, to the best of my knowledge, in all Commonwealth jurisdictions, my ‘Black Hole’ case is the only case that the court holds that a government can sue its citizen for defamation.
“Therefore, as a citizen of the country who believes in our fundamental principles of democracy, I have decided to appeal to the highest court in the country, hopefully to set it right,” he said.
Chong also added that his lawyers will be filing the necessary papers later today, seeking leave to appeal to the Federal Court.
On July 3, the Court of Appeal had affirmed the High Court’s ruling in favour of the Sarawak government in the defamation suit against Chong, while also increasing the total damages and costs imposed.
The appellate court not only upheld the earlier decision but raised the damages to RM300,000, and further ordered Chong to pay RM150,000 in costs for the Court of Appeal proceedings, in addition to RM50,000 in High Court costs.
In total, the Court of Appeal has ordered Chong to pay RM500,000 to the Sarawak government.
Following the ruling, Chong said that he was contemplating a further appeal to the Federal Court, the apex court in Malaysia, but said the decision will depend on the advice of his legal counsel.— DayakDaily
