Justice Hue Siew Kheng said Khalid had proved his case against Hasan on the balance of probabilities.

“Religion is a highly sensitive issue and to accuse someone of being anti-Islam or a traitor to the religion carries extremely dire consequences for the victim,” Hue said.

The judge said Hasan’s baseless allegation had exposed Khalid to public odium and as a result had lowered his reputation in the eyes of the public.

Lawyer Faiz Fadzil, who appeared for Khalid, said the judge also ordered Hasan to pay his client another RM35,000 in costs.

The issue, dating back to 2012, pertained to sale of liquor, gaming centres and massage parlours in Selangor.

Hassan, who was unrepresented, did not make any submission.

The former PAS member had not been able to engage a new counsel after his lawyer withdrew from the case.

On Jan 3, the plaintiff’s three witnesses, including Khalid, ended their testimonies by reading out their witness statements while Hassan chose not to testify.

In 2015, Khalid, who is now a Central Committee member of Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah), filed the lawsuit alleging that Hassan made disparaging remarks against him in a speech at Dewan Rukun Tetangga in Shah Alam.

Hasan accused Khalid of encouraging the sale of liquor and the mushroomig of massage parlours, and that the people should not vote for him in the 13th general election.

Khalid claimed a video containing the speech was edited and uploaded on YouTube, which could be freely accessed by the masses.

Khalid, who was then a member of PAS’ Central Committee, alleged that Hasan’s remarks were baseless, false and maliciously intended to tarnish his reputation, image and good name.

On Dec 16 last year, the court struck out Hassan’s statement of defence after he failed to appropriately file the documents for trial.

Both Khalid and Hasan were not present.