Anwar Ibrahim
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told the High Court here today a statement by Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin at an event in Lembah Pantai in 2008 portrayed him (Anwar) as a homosexual, with low moral values and having the tendency to commit crime and vice.
Anwar, 69, said the statement by the minister, in his speech at the UMNO Youth-BN (Barisan Nasional) event, was a personal attack against him and an insult.
“The statement was intended to picture me as a cheat, with low moral values and having the tendency to commit crime and vice,” he said when reading a witness statement before judge Azizul Azmi Adnan.
Anwar said the insinuation made against him was intended to create a perception among the general public that he was guilty of sodomy.
The statement by Khairy gave the impression that Anwar is a person who is not qualified to hold any political post because he is regarded harmful to the society, and also intended to tarnish his image, he added.
“The defendant purposely slandered me in Lembah Pantai because my daughter, Nurul Izzah, was announced as a candidate at that time, the offensive statement added the pain suffered by my family, he said.
Anwar filed the suit on March 7, 2008, claiming that Khairy had uttered defamatory words about him at a ‘ceramah’ (talk) in Lembah Pantai on Feb 20, 2008.
The former MP for Permatang Pauh claimed that video clips of the speech containing the defamatory words were carried on online portals, including Malaysiakini.com.
Meanwhile, lawyer Sarah Abishegam, representing Khairy, told the court that lead counsel for the defendant, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, would submit an application to call Khairy again to testify as there were new findings in Anwar’s witness statement.
On Sept 19 last year, Khairy, when testifying as the first witness in the hearing of the suit, maintained that his speech in Lembah Pantai in 2008 did not refer to Anwar’s sodomy act.
Khairy, 40, who is also Rembau Member of Parliament, said he did not defame Anwar in his speech, but the speech contained a metaphor about BN’s campaign.
He said the speech was made at Dataran Angkasa on Feb 19, 2008, when he launched the Election Machinery of Lembah Pantai UMNO Youth election machinery.
The hearing continues tomorrow. – Bernama