Yesterday (11 October), lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah lost his appeal over his defamation suit against the Malaysian Bar, lawyer Tommy Thomas (now Attorney-General) and former Court of Appeal judge Tan Sri V C George.

Shafee claimed that in February 2015, Thomas had published and submitted a motion for discussion by the Bar at its annual general meeting (AGM) concerning Shafee’s conduct as DPP after he took part in a forum. The Malaysian Bar then published the motion on its website. Shafee said that they had maliciously defamed him to destroy his reputation and legal career following the release of the motion for discussion on the website. Shafee also sought a declaration that the motion was done in bad faith to embarrass him and that the AGM was not a proper forum to hear the motion.

The High Court held that Thomas and George succeeded in proving their defence on the balance of probability, and that there was no malice in the publication. The suit was dismissed after the court found that Shafee had failed to prove his claim.