PETALING JAYA: Former DAP leader P Ramasamy has successfully raised RM1.52 million through crowdfunding to help settle an award made by the High Court in favour of Islamic televangelist Dr Zakir Naik.
Ramasamy said the fundraiser managed to obtain RM1,523,187.83 as of 11am today.
“Fantastic effort on the part of donors from all sections of the society. Unmistakably this gift is the best Deepavali present.
“Please cease further donations from now on,” he said in a Facebook post.
The former Penang deputy chief minister had launched the fundraiser after High Court judge Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz ruled on Nov 2 that he had defamed Naik in five statements made between 2016 and 2019.
Ramasamy said he intends to appeal the verdict, and if the Court of Appeal decides in his favour, the funds raised will be donated to those in need.
In October and December 2019, Naik filed two suits alleging that Ramasamy had made five defamatory statements about him, which were uploaded onto several social media sites and reported by a number of news portals between 2016 and 2019.
In his statement of claim, he alleged that Ramasamy had on April 10, 2016 defamed him on Facebook by calling him “Satan”.
Naik, who is a permanent resident, also said Ramasamy defamed him in another statement published by FMT on Oct 1, 2017, in which he claimed that Malaysia was harbouring a “fugitive from India”.
Last Saturday, Naik said he intended to donate the full amount of the RM1.52 million award to the Palestinian cause following the war in Gaza.
