KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s defamation suit against Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has been fixed for final case management on May 12.High Court Deputy Registrar Wan Nursalena Wan Abdullah fixed the date after meeting Anwar’s counsel S Prakash and A Sarah Maalini for Khairy.
Prakash said the court ordered both parties to submit the documents pertaining to the case before the court fixed the date for the trial of the suit.
Anwar, 63, filed the suit on Sept 7, 2007 claiming that Khairy, who was then the Umno Youth deputy chief, had defamed him at a political function in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, in August 2007.
Anwar, who is the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor, claimed that the defamatory statements by Khairy were carried by the print and electronic media in the country on Aug 3, 2007.
He claimed that the statements portrayed him as a politician who could not be trusted by the Malays, who did not give importance to the struggle of the Malays and their rights, and that he was capable of betraying the Malay struggle and rights just to get the support of the non-Malays in the country.
Anwar also said that Khairy had made the statements to insinuate that he (Anwar) was a political agent of the United States of America and the Jews, as well as to ruin his political career.
He claimed that Khairy had ill intention when making the statements, which were lies, baseless and without truth.
Besides general, aggravated and exemplary damages and other reliefs deemed fit by the court, Anwar is also seeking an injunction to prevent Khairy, or his agents, from repeating the statements. — Bernama