PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today upheld the decision of the High Court, which ordered Noorazira Pissal- better known as Eira Aziera- to pay RM100,000 in compensation to Suharnizan Md Sidek, the victim of body shaming on social media by the influencer.
A 3-member panel of judges, led by Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said, sitting with Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Datuk S M Komathy Suppiah, unanimously made the decision.
Judge Ahmad stated that they agreed that the High Court was not wrong when it ruled that the words expressed by the defendant, Eira, were defamatory and clearly so, without the need for an expert to verify it.
He said there was no merit in Eira's appeal, and it was not proven that the High Court had made an error.
"We find that the amount of the award (compensation ordered) by the High Court is reasonable, and is neither excessive or inadequate.
"The High Court has taken into account the acts of 'body shaming' and 'cyberbullying.'
"The counter-appeal (for RM2 million in compensation) by the plaintiff (Suharnizan) regarding the quantum (RM100,000) has no merit, and it is rejected, and the quantum is upheld," he said.
Earlier, Eira's defence attorney, Yahaya Ahmad, argued that all claims against his client by Suharnizan were hearsay.
"We wonder why the plaintiff's husband was not called as a witness; he is a crucial witness because he heard the one-hour video (containing statements made by the defendant about the plaintiff).
"If they failed to call (the plaintiff's husband), it means they failed to prove their case," he said.
Meanwhile, the lawyer representing Suharnizan, Mohd Rasheed Hassan, argued that there was no need to call the plaintiff's husband to testify.
"The defendant admitted to making the video, so calling other parties would be a waste of time.
"We have transcribed the video into the statement of claim and submitted it to the court," he said.
On May 30, 2022, Chief Justice Datuk Seri Shamsulbahri Ibrahim ruled on the RM100,000 compensation following a full trial conducted for five days from Oct 24 to 28, 2021, conducted online.
The High Court also ordered Eira to issue an unconditional apology on all her social media accounts, which was to be maintained for six months from the date of publication.
On Oct 13, 2020, Suharnizan filed a lawsuit for over RM2 million against Eira, 39, in the Johor Baru High Court, alleging being a victim of body shaming and defamation by the social media influencer.
Media reported that Suharnizan posted a comment saying "live cooking, live eating, promoting slimming products, can you really get slim?" at 10am on Aug 18, 2020, through a live video broadcast on Eira's Facebook page.
Eira later made derogatory remarks, likening the victim's body to an animal and posted pictures of the woman and her child before it went viral on social media.
The social media influencer faced public criticism before publicly apologising for her actions, claiming that she failed to control her emotions and words, causing offence to many.
However, on Sept 15, 2020, Suharnizan decided to file a report at the South Johor Baru district police headquarters before filing a lawsuit.
