PUTRAJAYA – The Federal Court today allowed Umno lawmaker Khairy Jamaluddin’s appeal in a defamation suit filed by opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to be heard on a technicality.
The Court of Appeal will tomorrow hear the merits of Khairy’s appeal against paying RM150,000 in damages to Anwar, reported Malaysiakini.
It was a unanimous decision by a five-person bench led by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim.
Today, Anwar’s counsel, J. Leela, was quoted as saying that the Federal Court has ordered Anwar to pay RM30,000 in cost to Khairy, and fixed tomorrow for case management.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court on September 29, 2017, had ruled that Khairy was found to have defamed Anwar with a “main belakang” remark in 2008.
Anwar subsequently filed a RM100 million defamation suit against Khairy.
On February 19, 2018, the appellate court had struck out Khairy’s appeal after being ordered to pay Anwar RM150,000 in damages.
The court then did not hear the merits of Khairy’s appeal. – The Vibes, December 15, 2020
