MELAKA, Jan 12 — The defamation suit filed by Seputeh Member of Parliament Teresa Kok against Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh will proceed to trial after mediation efforts failed to result in an amicable settlement.
Lawyer Datuk Sankara Nair, representing Kok, said both parties were unable to reach an out-of-court settlement during the mediation session conducted before Deputy Registrar Suzana Mokhtar at the Melaka Court Mediation Centre here today.
“The trial has been fixed for February 12 and 13 at the Melaka High Court. We will therefore meet him (Dr Muhamad Akmal) in court on the scheduled dates,” he told reporters when met outside the mediation centre.
Mediation is an alternative dispute resolution process aimed at settling cases without proceeding to a full trial.
Earlier, the mediation session, which lasted nearly an hour, was attended by Sankara, Kok, Dr Muhamad Akmal and his counsel, Syahrul Sazwan Salehin.
In the suit filed on October 25, 2024, Kok alleged that Dr Muhamad Akmal made insulting and derogatory statements portraying her as lacking knowledge, particularly on matters related to halal certification, and as opposing government policies on Islamic practices.
The allegedly defamatory remarks were made in a video posted by Dr Muhamad Akmal on the TikTok platform on September 7, 2024.
Kok, who named Dr Muhamad Akmal, also the Merlimau Assemblyman and Melaka Rural Development, Agriculture and Food Security Committee chairman, as the sole defendant, is seeking general, aggravated and exemplary damages.
She is also seeking an injunction to restrain him from further uttering, writing or publishing defamatory statements against her, as well as any other relief deemed just and appropriate by the court. — Bernama