GEORGE TOWN: PAS’s Siti Mastura Muhammad has paid RM830,034.75 to the lawyers of three DAP leaders to stave off the enforcement of a judgment they obtained against her pending an appeal.
The payment was made to the account of SN Nair & Partners, the law firm that represented DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, former finance minister Lim Guan Eng, and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok in their defamation suit against the Kepala Batas MP.
The payment was revealed by Siti Mastura’s lawyer Yusfarizal Yusoff in the High Court when her application to stay the judgment pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal came up before Justice Quay Chew Soon in chambers.
“My client has already made payment to the account of Nair’s law firm on the condition that the money will be kept in the solicitors account pending the disposal of the appeal in the Court of Appeal.
“This is the arrangement agreed on by both parties,” Yusfarizal, who appeared with SN Nair, said.
Last year, the court ordered Siti Mastura to pay RM300,000 to Kit Siang, RM250,000 to Guan Eng, RM200,000 to Kok, and RM25,000 in legal costs to each.
The High Court had, on Dec 4, found Siti Mastura guilty of defamation for linking the three leaders to the late Communist Party of Malaya leader Chin Peng in her election speeches.
The court ruled that her statements were baseless and damaging to the leaders’ reputations.
Siti Mastura had sought a stay of execution to delay the payment.
Yusfarizal said case management for the appeal would be held on March 13.
