Earlier, Justice Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz ruled that the former Penang deputy chief minister had defamed Naik in five statements made between 2017 and 2019.

“I am a former politician. Unlike other politicians, I am not rich. I have no choice but to go for crowdfunding.

“We will raise the necessary amount and the excess will be donated to those in need, such as poor students,” Ramasamy said at a press conference in Sentul here.

He said his team will manage the funds transparently and will update the public daily through his Facebook page.

The full details about the crowdfunding exercise have been posted on his Facebook page.

Ramasamy said he intends to appeal the verdict, and if the Court of Appeal decides in his favour, the funds raised will be donated to those in need.

Despite the setback, he vowed to continue speaking “on behalf of voiceless Malaysians regardless of race”.

In October and December 2019, Naik filed two suits alleging that Ramasamy had made five defamatory statements about him, which were uploaded onto several social media sites and reported by a number of news portals between 2016 and 2019.

In his statement of claim, he alleged that Ramasamy had on April 10, 2016 defamed him on Facebook by calling him “Satan”.

Naik, who is a permanent resident, also said Ramasamy defamed him in another statement published by FMT on Oct 1, 2017, in which he claimed that Malaysia was harbouring a “fugitive from India”.

In her verdict today, Hayatul said Naik had proved his case on a balance of probabilities and found that Ramasamy’s defence was “without merit” and “untenable”.