{
  "id": 12803171,
  "title": "Bekas senator menang saman fitnah terhadap Ramasamy selepas rayuan",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/bekas-senator-menang-saman-fitnah-terhadap-ramasamy-selepas-rayuan",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-08T06:03:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2026/10/08/bekas-senator-menang-saman-fitnah-terhadap-ramasamy-selepas-rayuan"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former senator Dr RA Lingeshwaran successfully challenged a petition for slander against Urimai leader P Ramasamy after appealing to the High Court of Kuala Lumpur. The High Court judge, Azlan Sulaiman, previously dismissed Lingeshwaran's lawsuit on April 30th and ordered him to pay a RM15,000 fee. Instead, the court issued an injunction restraining Ramasamy from repeating or publishing the disputed statements in the case. The court also ordered Ramasamy to pay Lingeshwaran RM15,000 and return the case to Butterworth High Court to determine the amount of damages. Earlier, High Court judge Zulhazmi Abdullah ordered Lingeshwaran to pay RM15,000 after finding Ramasamy successful in using qualified defense and conditional protection in the slander case. The lawsuit involved two statements made by Ramasamy in a Malay Mail article published on May 2, 2024, following a debate on the proposal to open a cardiac surgery postgraduate program at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in collaboration with the National Heart Institute (IJN). In the article, Malaysiakini received a response from Ramasamy regarding Lingeshwaran's objection to the proposal. In his judgment, Zulhazmi ruled that the first statement was not slanderous, but rather a criticism within political debate. However, he found the second statement to be slanderous because it touched on Lingeshwaran's professional reputation as a doctor, but was protected by the principle of qualified opinion and conditional protection. Zulhazmi also ruled that Lingeshwaran failed to prove that Ramasamy acted with malicious intent, as he was the sole witness providing testimony and no other witnesses were called to prove the existence of such intent, either directly or through inference.",
  "summary": "Mahkamah Tinggi Pulau Pinang membenarkan rayuan Dr RA Lingeshwaran terhadap keputusan Mahkamah Sesyen yang sebelum ini menolak saman fitnahnya terhadap ketua Urimai itu.",
  "key_points": [
    "Former senator Dr RA Lingeshwaran wins slander case against P Ramasamy",
    "High Court injunction bars Ramasamy from repeating disputed statements",
    "Ramasamy ordered to pay RM15,000 and court case returned to Butterworth"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The court ruling marks a partial vindication for Dr RA Lingeshwaran, allowing him to pursue damages against P Ramasamy for a slanderous statement that damaged his professional reputation as a doctor.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Bekas senator menang saman fitnah terhadap Ramasamy selepas rayuan",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/bekas-senator-menang-saman-fitnah-terhadap-ramasamy-selepas-rayuan-12807260",
        "published": "2026-10-08T06:03:48.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}