Gerakan's No 2 granted ad-interim stay of execution in LGE defamation suit
Gerakan deputy president Oh Tong Keong filed an appeal on May 21 to challenge the judgment delivered by the High Court in George Town, Penang, on May 7. (Facebook pic)
PETALING JAYA : Gerakan's Oh Tong Keong has been granted an ad-interim stay of execution of a High Court decision ordering him to pay damages to Lim Guan Eng for falsely accusing the former finance minister of helping a concert organiser obtain tax exemptions.
On Sunday, FMT reported that Oh, who is the party's deputy president, had filed an application for a stay of execution on May 22 pending the outcome of his appeal against the High Court's verdict which awarded Lim RM550,000 in damages.
Penang Gerakan today said that it had successfully raised RM200,000 to help Oh pay the damages.
'In addition, several generous individuals have stepped forward to temporarily advance another RM300,000, allowing us to fully gather a total of RM500,000,' it said in a Facebook post.
The party's state chapter said that it would continue to raise funds to repay the advanced funds.
Oh's Lawyer, Chai Ko Thing, last week said the appeal was filed on May 21.
On May 7, the High Court awarded Lim RM550,000 in damages after ruling that Oh had falsely accused him of helping a concert organiser obtain tax exemptions while the former was the finance minister.
Justice Kenneth St James ruled that Oh had defamed Lim at a press conference on Sept 25, 2019, and through a press release sent out via Penang Gerakan's official email address. The remarks were later published by China Press, which was also found liable.
Oh had questioned why Lim had granted tax exemptions to WGW Entertainment Sdn Bhd and its owner, Hendrik Huang, for a Mandopop concert at Spice Arena.
The judge found that Oh had no basis for his claims and gave no evidence that Lim knew Huang or had granted any tax privileges.
He said although Oh's statements were framed as questions, they were found to be defamatory in nature and did not qualify as fair comment.
Oh was also ordered to publish an unconditional apology to Lim in China Press, online and in print. He was also barred from repeating the claims.
China Press was ordered to pay RM150,000 in damages, RM80,000 in costs, and interest at 5% per annum.
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