Money From Winning Nfcorp Cases Will Be Given To Public Rafizi

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PKR’s Rafizi Ramli said the money awarded to him in the defamation suit brought by the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) and its chairperson Mohamad Salleh Ismail will be returned to the public in the form of scholarships and aid.
This comes after the Federal Court today ruled that Rafizi successfully raised the defence of fair comment to defeat the defamation suit, which was over allegations the entities had misused government funds.
“The Federal Court today decided in my favour in the suit brought by NFCorp against me. The series of NFCorp cases started in 2011 and have been ongoing until 2022.
“There were three cases against me, I have won them all.
“The money from the cases will be returned to the public in the form of scholarships and modest aid,” Rafizi said in a Twitter post today.
Earlier today, Chief Judge of Malaya Azahar Mohamed delivered the three-member Federal Court panel’s unanimous judgement to quash an appeal by NFCorp and Salleh against the dismissal of their defamation suit against Rafizi.
"He is entitled to express freely on a matter of public interest," said Azahar, according to the online portal Free Malaysia Today.
The other members of the bench were Zaleha Yusof and Zabariah Mohd Yusof.
“Reverting to the present appeal, in my opinion, looking objectively on how the impugned statement was expressed, there are no independent statements which fall within the characterisation laid by the legal authorities to conclude that the statements are statements of fact per se and not comment or inferences of fact.
"In my opinion, the impugned statement was the respondent's opinion and inferences made from the facts," said Azahar in his summary judgment.
NFCorp chairperson Mohamad Salleh IsmailAzahar also said Rafizi had relied on certain undisputed bank documents to make an honest opinion about NFCorp and Salleh.
"There was also no malice on the part of the respondent (Rafizi) and he was entitled to make a fair comment,” he added.
FMT also reported that Rafizi, represented by Razlan Hadri Zulkifli and Ranjit Singh, was awarded RM70,000 in costs.
Lawyer Shafee Abdullah represented NFCorp and Salleh.
The suit
The defamation suit filed by Salleh and NFCorp in 2013 against Rafizi was in relation to the then PKR strategic director's statement made on March 7, 2012, during a media conference at a PKR office on the purchase of KL Eco City properties.
In 2016, the High Court ordered Rafizi to pay RM150,000 in damages, after holding him liable for defaming Salleh.
The Court of Appeal, in May 2019, overturned the High Court's decision and set aside the lower court’s ruling.
It also ordered the RM150,000 that was paid to Salleh to be refunded and also awarded costs of RM110,000 to Rafizi.
Malaysiakini was also sued by NFCorp for reporting what Rafizi said, but won at the High Court level.
The court ordered the corporation and Salleh to pay Malaysiakini a sum of RM50,000 as costs. - Mkini

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