Wan Azizah, three others, agree to pay damages to Felda

A three-member Court of Appeal bench today recorded a consent judgment between Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, former PKR deputy president Syed Husin Ali, PKR party organ Suara Keadilan and writer Rusnizam Mahat for them to pay RM70,000 in damages to Felda.

The consent order was recorded before the bench led by Justice Vernon Ong following an agreement from lawyers representing both sides.

Counsel Francis Pereira told Malaysiakini when contacted that following the consent order, his clients needed to pay RM70,000 as decided by the deputy registrar.

The other two judges on the bench were Justice Zabariah Yusof and Justice Suraya Othman.

It was previously reported that FGV Global Ventures Bhd conceded to Wan Azizah and the others' appeal in July this year and that Felda may follow suit.

The High Court deputy registrar had initially set damages at RM70,000. However, on Felda's appeal to the High Court, Justice Su Geok Yiam later ordered it to be raised to RM2 million because she found the earlier amount to be excessively low.

FGV and Felda had sued Wan Azizah and the other parties over the publication of two articles in 2010 titled "Felda bankrap" and "Bina Bangunan RM662 juta hanya libatkan tiga individu".

Felda and FGV filed their RM200 million suit in August 2010 against the four defendants claiming that the articles affected their image and contended that the defendants had intentionally published the articles to destroy the trust and confidence in Felda settlers.

They subsequently won the suit.