KOTA KINABALU, Nov 28 — The High Court here today ordered a Semporna Umno committee member to pay Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal RM300,000 in damages after ruling for him in his malicious prosecution lawsuit.

Judicial commissioner Celestina Stuel Galid ordered Datuk Mohd Ainal Fattah, a lawyer, to pay RM300,000 in general damages, RM20,000 in costs, and applied five per cent annual interest in case of payment default.

Earlier, Shafie’s lawyer Datuk Douglas Lind had requested for RM1.8 million in damage..

Shafie sued Ainal for malicious prosecution in April after the latter publicised his application to bar the Parti Warisan Sabah president from contesting or voting in the coming 14th general election.

Shafie claimed that Ainal intentionally highlighted news of corruption investigations and linked this to the former with the hopes of causing maximum damage to the CM’s reputation as a politician.

"The malicious and ill intent of the defendant was further evidenced by the defendant ignoring the direction of the High Court judge that the defendant was to serve all papers in respect of the defendant’s application for judicial review by 20th April 2018 on all the parties,” said Shafie in his application.

Ainal’s attempt to bar Shafie from standing in the general election was thrown out by the High Court on the eve of the May 9 polls, after Justice Azhahari Kamal Ramli found the Umno man to have no legal standing to pursue the claim.

The judge had then awarded RM10,000 in costs to Shafie and the Election Commission, who was named second and first defendant respectively.