"RM10 To Uphold Justice" – Tony Pua & Yeo Bee Yin Ask For Help After Being Sued RM400,000
"We are hence seeking support from the public to raise funds to help us settle the above damages and cost," Pua wrote in a Facebook post.
By Kay Ng — 06 Dec 2022, 06:06 PM
Tony Pua and Yeo Bee Yin are asking for public donations to cover a legal cost of RM400,000 after being sued for defamation
This comes after the Shah Alam High Court found the two DAP members guilty of defaming former MCA secretary-general Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun successfully sued them for defamation on 30 November, reported New Straits Times.
Pua and Yeo have since filed an appeal to the court in hopes of revoking this decision. However, the two will be required to pay the damages and costs to the plaintiff immediately.
"We are hence seeking support from the public to raise funds to help us settle the above damages and cost," Pua wrote in a Facebook post yesterday, 5 December.
"In the event that we are successful in overturning the decision at the higher courts, the funds returned will be used by [the Democratic Action Party] for the future election campaigns, including the impending state elections in Selangor, Penang, and Negeri Sembilan."
Pua and Yeo allegedly defamed Chew in three articles that were published in The Malay Mail Online, Free Malaysia Today, and Nanyang Daily in 2017
In these articles, Pua alleged that Chew, as then MP for Petaling Jaya Utara and MCA member, used her influence in a district land committee to approve the sale of a piece of land to Selangor MCA below market value.
"They only paid RM1 per square feet in premium to acquire the 0.4ha land which was designated as a 'water body' by the river in [Kampung Cempaka]," Pua wrote on Facebook.
"This was discovered when there was an application to convert the land into 'commercial land' in 2017. The above are the facts of the matter based on official government documents."
According to New Straits Times, High Court Judge Datuk Roslan Abu Bakar said the court had taken into account the arguments of both parties. In the end, they found that allegations made by the defendants were untrue, as Chew was never a member of the district land committee.
Secretary-General of the MCA, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun.
Image via Chew Mei Fun (Facebook) via Free Malaysia Today