PUTRAJAYA – The Federal Court has reserved its verdict on senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s appeal over his defamation suit against the Malaysian Bar and two others relating to his conduct as the deputy public prosecutor (DPP) in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy case.
The two other respondents are former attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas and former Court of Appeal judge Tan Sri V.C. George.
The panel of three, led by Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Rohana Yusuf, reserved its ruling after hearing submissions from both the appellant (Shafee) and respondents in proceedings conducted virtually through the Zoom app.
Also presiding on the bench were Federal Court judges Datuk Vernon Ong Lam Kiat and Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli.
On May 26, 2016, the Kuala Lumpur High Court had dismissed the defamation suit filed by Shafee against the respondents. The Court of Appeal had, on October 11, 2018, then rejected Shafee’s appeal, upholding the high court’s decision.
On August 19, last year, the Federal Court granted leave to Shafee to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision.
During today’s proceeding, the court heard submissions by lawyers Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, who acted for Thomas; Porres Royan for George; and, Lambert Rasa-Ratnam for the Malaysian Bar, while Shafee represented himself.
Shafee filed the suit in March 2015, claiming that on February 28, 2015, Thomas had published and submitted a motion for discussion by the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Malaysian Bar on March 14, 2015. The motion was seconded by George.
The motion pertains to Shafee’s conduct as the DPP in Anwar’s sodomy appeal in the Federal Court, claiming that he (Shafee) had violated the legal profession’s rules prohibiting lawyers from drawing publicity for themselves.
The motion also alleged Shafee participated in nationwide roadshows with the purpose of insulting a convicted prisoner and for bringing attention to his role in Anwar’s conviction.
On February 10, 2015, the Federal Court affirmed Anwar’s conviction of sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, and sentenced him to five years in jail. Anwar, however, was granted a full pardon from the king on May 16, 2018.
In his statement of claim, Shafee sought, among other things, a declaration that the motion was mala fide because the purpose of the proposal was simply to embarrass him and that the AGM was not a proper forum to hear the motion. – Bernama, August 6, 2021
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