Crime & Courts

Musa Hassan seeks to strike out Hannah Yeoh's suit

KUALA LUMPUR: Former top cop Tan Sri Musa Hassan is seeking to strike out a defamation suit filed against him by former minister Hannah Yeoh in relation to his remarks against the latter two years ago.

This is the second time Musa is seeking to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Yeoh over the same issue after he successfully did so in May on technical grounds.

Musa's counsel Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz said his client was seeking to strike out the former Women, Family and Community development deputy minister's lawsuit due to abuse of court process.

He said Yeoh had filed a fresh suit after her previous suit was struck out by the High Court in May.

"At the same time, she filed an appeal against the dismissal of the first suit," he said.

Yeoh's lawyer Lim Wei Jiet confirmed the matter.

The lawsuit was over the remarks Musa made during a speech at a forum held at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) on Jan 30, 2020.

On May 3, High Court judge Datuk Rozana Ali Yusoff struck out the lawsuit after finding the plaintiff (Yeoh) had failed to comply with the court's orders regarding the filing of certain pre-trial documents.

The court, however, gave the plaintiff liberty to refile the defamation lawsuit.

Yeoh alleged Musa had defamed her during a speech at the forum titled "Wacana Isu Semasa Perjanjian Damai Hat Yai 1989: PKM Menyerah Diri?".

The Segambut Member of Parliament said Musa's statements were defamatory and malicious, as they were untrue, premeditated and made in bad faith to tarnish her reputation, and also intended to harm her politically.

The plaintiff also applied to the court to issue an injunction to stop Musa, his officers or agents from saying or publishing the defamatory remarks in addition to claiming compensation in the form of general damages, aggravated damages, exemplary damages as well as costs and relief deemed fit by the court.

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