Judicial Commissioner Mohd Johan Lee dismissed the claims with Aswaja to pay RM40,000 in costs.

Lee said Zamihan had failed to prove the publication of defamatory statements by Asri against him in news articles on Malaysiakini because he did not present witnesses to confirm the remarks.

“The two articles cannot be referred to and considered by the court, therefore there is no evidence to confirm the publication of the articles,” Lee said.

Zamihan, who is president of Pertubuhan Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah Malaysia (Aswaja) had claimed that Asri had provided statements to reporters who proceeded to write and publish the articles. The authors of the articles should have been called to confirm that the articles were their work before they could be accepted, referred to and considered by the court, Lee said.

“Unfortunately, the plaintiff did not call the witnesses to prove the existence of the articles,” he said. The authors should have been called to confirm that the articles were their work, before they could be accepted, referred to and considered by the court.

In his statement of claim, Zamihan said Asri (popularly known as Dr Maza) had made defamatory statements against him twice, through an article ‘Bukan Perlis Sahaja’ published on Oct 14, 2018, and at a forum ‘Siapa Pengganas & Potensi Salahguna Kuasa’ at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre on Feb 9, 2019.

He said Asri’s remarks were published on Malaysiakini and that the statements implied that he had no integrity, and was a liar. He sought general damages of RM2 million, other damages and an apology.