Segambut: Member of Parliament (MP) Hannah Yeoh has filed a bankruptcy notice against Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) lecturer Dr. Kamarul Zaman Yusoff for failing to pay more than RM400,000 in damages and costs ordered by a High Court for defaming her eight years ago. Her lawyer, Sangeet Kaur Deo, confirmed that the notice was filed at the High Court on July 9.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Kamarul Zaman failed to pay the RM400,000 in damages and RM80,000 in costs as ordered by the High Court on May 30, leading to the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings against him. However, attempts to serve the bankruptcy notice directly to Kamarul Zaman were unsuccessful, prompting the court to grant an order on July 29 for alternative service methods, including newspaper advertisements.

Sangeet Kaur also stated that Kamarul Zaman has applied to stay the court's decision from July, pending an appeal at the Court of Appeal. The application for the stay is scheduled to be heard on August 28, but until then, Hannah Yeoh is entitled to enforce the court's judgment from May 30.

The High Court, under Judge Datuk Aliza Sulaiman, ruled in favor of Hannah Yeoh on May 30, ordering Kamarul Zaman to pay the damages for defamatory remarks he made in 2017. The defamation suit, filed in 2022, stemmed from two Facebook posts made by Kamarul Zaman, in which he alleged that Hannah Yeoh had a proselytizing agenda and was using her political position to promote Christianity. He cited her autobiography, "Becoming Hannah: A Personal Journey," as evidence of this claim, further alleging that she aimed to turn Malaysia into a Christian nation.

In his defense, Kamarul Zaman denied the defamation allegations and claimed that his statements were justified.