The defamation suit brought by former energy, science, technology, environment and climate change minister Yeo Bee Yin against Sungai Besar Umno division chief Jamal Md Yunos in connection with the Yayasan Warisan Anak Selangor (Yawas) fund will go to trial.

Lawyer Mohammed Nasser Yusof, who is representing Jamal, said this was because both parties have failed to reach a settlement through a mediation process.

He also said the court has yet to set the trial dates and the case management before Judge Rozana Ali Yusoff, which was initially set on April 21, was vacated.

“I received an email from the court yesterday notifying that it has set June 24 as the new date for case management for both parties to update the court on the development of the case and to fix trial dates,” he told Bernama via WhatsApp.

On June 14, 2017, Yeo, as the plaintiff, filed the lawsuit seeking RM5 million in compensation from Jamal, as the defendant, for his defamatory statement over the alleged abused of Yawas fund.

In the statement of claim, Yeo, who is also Bakri MP, claimed that the defendant had issued a defamatory statement on March 21, 2017, and that the statement was published by several newspapers, news portals and on Jamal’s Facebook account.

Yeo claimed that Jamal’s statement, among others, gave the impression that she had abused public funds for personal use and painted her as an unethical and unreliable person.

Apart from RM5 million of general damages, Yeo is also seeking compensatory, aggravated and exemplary damages and an injunction to prevent Jamal from repeating his allegations.

- Bernama 

Keep up with the latest information on the outbreak in the country with Malaysiakini's free Covid-19 tracker.

Malaysiakini is providing free access to the most important updates on the coronavirus pandemic. You can find them here.

Help keep independent media alive - subscribe to Malaysiakini.