Malaysia's top judge urges courts to trim defamation awards
By The Associated Press
and freedomforum.org staff
03.19.01
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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia's top judge has urged courts to scale back their awards in defamation lawsuits, saying a recent string of expensive penalties could threaten freedom of the press.
Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah said judges should exercise "wide discretion" in such lawsuits, especially those against newspapers and other news media, two local newspapers reported yesterday.
"While I agree that free speech is not a license to defame a person, neither is the law of defamation a license to destroy" the press, Mohamed Dzaiddin said March 17 at a dinner organized by the Malaysian Bar Council, the country's top legal association.
The remarks, which were reported in the Sunday Star and New Sunday Times newspapers, were striking in that Malaysia has built a reputation for effectively silencing independent-minded journalism.
The country's leader, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, ranks among the 10 leading international enemies of the press, according to the annual list compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
In its annual report detailing attacks against the news media, CPJ said self-censorship "remains the most insidious effect of the official attitude towards the press" in Malaysia.
The CPJ report, which was released today, also said: "Malaysian journalists are among the best-paid in the region, and they have a lot to lose by bucking the system. As a result, most journalism is tame, and reporters have no effective organizational voice to fight for greater freedom."
The Malaysian Bar Council, in a report last week, said defamation claims and awards in this Southeast Asian nation were the highest among the 54 countries in the Commonwealth, the organization of Britain and its former colonies.
The bar council report cited the case of a businessman who claimed damages totaling $342 million last month from various Malaysian newspapers for publishing comments against him by the former immigration director.
In a ruling that alarmed many lawyers, the High Court last month told a private television station to pay another businessman $26 million for damaging his reputation by airing footage of him in police handcuffs. A judge has temporarily set aside the ruling.
The bar council has suggested new laws to limit defamation awards, which it says are too high compared to compensation awarded for physical injuries. It said big awards were having a "chilling effect" on news coverage.
Some judges, however, say that the large awards are necessary.
Ordering a businessman and a former lawyer to pay nearly $790,000 for defaming Malaysia's health minister, Judge R.K. Nathan ruled last year that "parties who are quick with their words and who act without reflection must realize that large awards in damages would result."
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