KUALA LUMPUR: Hannah Yeoh has filed an appeal to the Appellate Court today following the High Court's dismissal of her defamation suit against former top cop Tan Sri Musa Hassan over a speech he delivered at a forum at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) four years ago.
In a statement, the Youth and Sports Minister called for all parties to respect the judicial process and not weaponise her faith by sharing malicious messages and videos.
Yeoh said a police report would be lodged against malicious videos or messages that could affect her appeal.
"I respect the judicial process, but I am, of course, disappointed with the outcome. My lawyer has filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal on Dec 26. I have instructed my lawyer to request an expedited hearing of this appeal. I have been advised by my lawyer that no full written grounds of judgment have been provided by the High Court yet. So far, there are only brief reasons listed in writing through the court's e-review system on Dec 23. Therefore, it is not appropriate at this stage to draw any conclusions about what the High Court has decided overall or the reasons behind its decision," she said.
Yeoh said messages and videos that have been circulated on WhatsApp politicising the decision and suggesting that she intends to convert Muslims and make Malaysia a Christian country are completely false.
She said she has always respected and upheld the Federal Constitution, as well as Islam's position as the religion of the federation.
"There are clear legal restrictions against the propagation of religions other than Islam to Muslims in Malaysia. I have taken my oath of office and sworn to protect the Federal Constitution. It is an oath that I take seriously and will abide by at all times. All parties must respect the judicial process and ensure that they do nothing to violate the law or undermine my rights in court. A police report will be lodged against malicious videos/messages that could affect my appeal. As has happened repeatedly in my political career, my faith has once again been weaponised by religious extremists out there. I call on all parties to stand firm in resisting these attempts and to refrain from spreading such messages when they encounter them online," she said.
On Monday, High Court Judicial Commissioner Arziah Mohamed Apandi made the decision to dismiss Yeoh's defamation claim against Musa Hassan as she failed to prove the impugned statements were defamatory.
The court said the plaintiff failed to establish two essential elements of defamation, namely that the statements as a whole referred to her and that the defendant was responsible for their publication. The court also awarded RM40,000 in costs to the defendant.
Based on the lawsuit filed on July 3, 2020, Yeoh claims that Musa gave a speech at a forum titled "Current Issues Discourse on the Hat Yai Peace Agreement 1989: Did the CPM Surrender?"
The impugned statements alleged that the plaintiff wrote her book to turn Malaysia into a Christian nation, had links with evangelists and Jews to damage Islam and Malaysia, and put her personal interests above national interests.
The DAP lawmaker claimed that the statements in the speech were untrue, distressing, false, incorrect, and baseless, as well as premeditated, made with malicious intent, tarnished her reputation, defamed her, and destroyed her reputation.