Sept 3 hearing of application to recuse JC from hearing Najib’s suit

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KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here yesterday fixed Sept 3 to hear an application by the publisher of Malaysiakini and two others for Judicial Commissioner (JC) Datuk Wira Kamaludin Md Said to recuse himself from hearing a suit filed against them by Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and its executive secretary Datuk Ab Rauf Yusoh.

Lawyer Wan Azmir Wan Majid, representing Najib and Ab Rauf, told reporters that the date was set by deputy registrar Norfauzani Mohd Nordin in chambers when the case came up for mention.

He said the matter would be heard before Kamaludin and the court also set July 24 for case management.

On June 24 this year, Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd, Malaysiakini.com editor-in-chief Steven Gan and its chief editor Fathi Aris Omar, filed an application seeking to recuse Kamaludin from hearing the suit on grounds of bias.

They wanted the defamation suit to be heard before a High Court judge.

On May 30, Najib filed the suit in his personal capacity and Ab Rauf, on behalf of Umno, claiming that the three defendants had reported, produced and allowed the publishing of two articles titled “A case of the PM reaping what he sows” and “How much will Najib spend to keep Terengganu?”.

The articles were said to have been published on May 14.

The plaintiffs claimed that the articles were carried in the “Yoursay” column of the news portal www.malaysiakini.com by the defendants themselves or their assistants based on comments from the portal’s subscribers or users which were then grouped into the articles under the major topics.

One of the articles, “A case of the PM reaping what he sows”, related to government policies and hudud while the other, “How much will Najib spend to keep Terengganu?” was on the political crisis in Terengganu which happened in May.

Najib and Ab Rauf claimed that the defendants had deliberately allowed the publication of the articles although knowing they were baseless accusations and not true.

Najib also claimed the defamatory words had tarnished his reputation as a politician, as Umno president and as prime minister.

Both the plaintiffs also claimed that the comments contained innuendos which implied that Umno was incompetent as a political body and as the backbone of Barisan Nasional.

They contended the defamatory words were also designed to portray Umno as having abused its authority in the interests of the party, that it was an undemocratic party and which deliberately created undesirable situations.

The two plaintiffs claimed that as a result of the publication of the two articles, their reputation was severely tarnished when Umno was condemned, particularly in the social media and mass media.

The plaintiffs are seeking general, special and aggravated damages, interest, as well as an injunction to prevent them or their agents from further publishing the alleged defamatory articles.

They are also seeking an order for the defendants to issue a written apology to be published in the newspapers, and costs. — Bernama