This morning, the Federal Court ruled that Malaysiakini is liable for contempt of court over its readers’ comments and fined the company RM500,000.
The hefty sentence, however, does not extend to its editor-in-chief Steven Gan who was found not guilty of the same charge.
The seven-person bench chaired by Court of Appeal president Rohana Yusuf delivered the 6-1 majority decision with dissenting judgment by Federal Court judge P Nallini.
Besides Rohana, the other panel members who form the majority ruling are chief judge of the High Court of Malaya Azahar Mohamed; chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim; and Federal Court judges Mohd Zawawi Salleh, Vernon Ong Lam Kiat and Abdul Rahman Sebli.
This marked the first time Malaysiakini is being cited for contempt of court in its 21-year history.
Read the press summary of the majority and minority judgments.
(Editor's note: This article has been amended to change the word full judgment to press summary)
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