SEPUTEH lawmaker Teresa Kok has obtained a bankruptcy order against Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) president Azwanddin Hamzah following his failure to pay the settlement sum granted in her defamation suit.

“Azwanddin has failed to honour the Consent Judgment and has failed to make any payment of the settlement sum, to date.

“I instructed my lawyer to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against Azwanddin via Shah Alam High Court Bankruptcy Suit No: BA-29NCC-2397-07/2020, and subsequently on March 29, 2021, a Bankruptcy Order was granted by the Court,” she said in a short statement today.

In January 2019, Kok filed a defamation suit against Azwanddin for his speech at a rally in Dataran Seni Klang, Selangor, where the JMM president alleged that Kok was a racist, had abused her power as a minister, acted unfairly and was dishonest, a minister with no ethics and had no principles.

The former primary industries minister refuted his claims, saying that Azwanddin’s speech was untrue, malicious, deliberate and made without due regard to the truth and this had affected her reputation as a politician and as a minister and to create ill-will towards her in the eyes of the public.

In July 2019, Kok and Azwanddin agreed to settle the matter out of court with the latter making a public apology and agreeing to pay an undisclosed settlement sum. – April 16, 2021.