The Court of Appeal yesterday dismissed the appeal by Lynas Corporation of Australia and Lynas Malaysia in their defamation proceeding against the Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) group of activists. The three-member panel ruled that High Court judge John Louis O’Hara was correct in earlier allowing SMSL’s application to transfer the case to the Kuantan High Court.

Justices Hishammuddin Yunus, Abd Aziz Rahim and Mohd Ariff Yusof held that the Kuantan High Court was the appropriate forum for the case because the Lynas plant was located near Kuantan and the defendants resided there.

The appeal by Lynas was dismissed with costs of RM20,000.

Last July, Lynas failed in its attempt to compel SMSL to remove an allegedly defamatory joint statement by concerned NGOs from its website as well as issued an apology. Lynas had sought an injunction against the SMSL open letter to the Prime Minister which was endorsed by close to 50 civil society organisations.

Subsequently, the lawyer for SMSL had succeeded in getting the court to transfer the case to be heard in Kuantan which in turn led to this appeal by Lynas.

SMSL spokesman Tan Bun Teet said, “Lynas would not be able to sue us this way in Australia and yet it is taking advantage of Malaysia’s weak civil rights law to try to gag us.”

He added that in taking up a defamation action against a citizen group such as SMSL, Lynas is “showing itself up the kind of corporation it really is”.

Tan who is a Kuantan resident is a defendant named in Lynas defamation suit.

He pointed put that the activists had raised issues concerning the Lynas rare earth project in their open letter to Najib Razak because those living near the plant were concerned for the health of their family and their future.

Another defendant named in the Lynas suit, Ismail Abu Bakar, said, “I speak out because many rakyat who will be directly and most immediately affected by Lynas’ pollution are at no liberty to speak out or to voice their concerns.

Ismail explained that his fellow Kuantan residents may lose their livelihoods and also worried that their health may suffer severely.

He added, “We have never been consulted about this project. Lynas’ gag action only strengthened my determination to keep fighting”.

Germany’s reputable Oeko Institute had in January released a detailed scientific evaluation of the Lynas rare earth refinery plant. According to SMSL, the study found several very serious deficiencies which should have been identified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) as well as Malaysian regulators in the Department of Environment.

Tan is perplexed how approval could be given to the project and disappointed that the agencies set up to protect the environment have instead failed the public.

The decision to issue Lynas an operating licence, he believed, would have “dire consequences for the local community and future generations”.

“We, the affected citizens, have no choice but to pick up the pieces and to fight for our future through legitimate means and way,” he concluded. “We have said it many times. We will fight till the end to Stop Lynas.”