Defamation suits against Malaysian Bar, A-G Tommy Thomas, former Court of Appeal judge VC George and former Malaysian Bar president Christopher Leong.
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the defamation suits by senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah against the Malaysian Bar, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas and two others over the Sodomy 2 appeal.
Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Wong Dak Wah, who chaired the three-man panel on Thursday (Oct 11), rejected the appeal on grounds that there was no merit in the application.
“We find there is no merit in the appeal and we dismiss the appeal,” he said.
Other judges on the panel were Justices Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid and Ahmadi Asnawi.
Shafee immediately said he will appeal this Court of Appeal decision as he finds the ruling was erroneous.
“How can someone table a motion to take disciplinary action on an individual through an AGM?” he asked.
“I will be seeking a seven-member Federal Court bench.”
On May 26, 2016, Shafee had filed an appeal against the High Court’s decision which dismissed his suit.
Justice Hanipah Farikullah said Shafee failed to prove his claim against the defendants – the Malaysian Bar, Thomas, former Court of Appeal judge VC George and former Malaysian Bar president Christopher Leong Sau Foo.
In her judgment, Hanipah said Thomas and VC George proved that there was substantive truth in their motion against the plaintiff at the Malaysian Bar’s annual general meeting (AGM) last year.
She added that Shafee failed to prove that Thomas and George had conspired to defame him at the AGM.
In his suit, Shafee claimed that on Feb 28, 2015, Thomas published and submitted a motion for discussion by the AGM on March 14, relating to his conduct as the deputy public prosecutor in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy appeal in the Federal Court. This motion was seconded by George.
He said the Bar Council and Leong on March 9 published the motion on the website of the Malaysian Bar titled, ‘Agenda and Motions for the 69th Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar’ that could be accessed by all members of the board.
The motion, among other things, concerned the behaviour of Shafee as chief public prosecutor, who staged roadshows relating to Anwar’s sodomy case.
Shafee claimed that following the release of the motion, the defendants maliciously defamed him to destroy his reputation and legal career.