KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court yesterday dismissed an application by Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar to strike out the defence of PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu and four others in a defamation suit involving articles in the PAS organ Harakah.
Judicial Commissioner Lee Heng Cheong made the decision in chambers in the presence of Counsel Norhazira Abu Haiyan, for Wan Ahmad, and Counsel Azhana Mohd Khairuddin, for all the defendants.
Azhana told reporters the court dismissed the application filed on May 15 with RM5,000 costs and set Sept 25 for case management.
Last March 5, Wan Ahmad filed the suit against the five defendants – Mohamad Sabu or Mat Sabu; PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali; Harakah printer Angkatan Edaran Enterprise Sdn Bhd; Harakah chief editor Ahmad Lutfi Othman and article writer Aziz Muda.
In the statement of claim, Wan Ahmad claimed that Mohamad Sabu had uttered libellous words in the articles ‘Wan Ahmad Tak Boleh Dipercayai’ and ‘Ragu Peranan SPR-Wan Ahmad Omar Mesti Letak Jawatan’ which were published by the Harakah edition of Feb 1-3, 2013, after having been interviewed by the writer on Jan 29.
Wan Ahmad claimed that the publication of the libellous words jeopardised his reputation and that the defendants had intentionally destroyed the trust and confidence the people had in him so as to pursue their own agenda.
As such, he applied for an injunction to prohibit all the defendants from further discussing or producing libellous statements against him orally, through the print media or over the Internet.
He claimed general, aggravated and exemplary damages, an apology in writing by all the defendants to be published in all newspapers, interest and costs.
In the statement of defence filed on April 2, all the defendants denied the allegation by Wan Ahmad and claimed that his filing the defamation suit affected the right to freedom of expression. — Bernama