Ismail Sabri obtains injunction against Lokman Adam in defamation suit

KUALA LUMPUR – The high court here yesterday allowed the application by former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob for an injunction in his defamation suit against former Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam.

Judge Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh made the ruling after the lawyers representing Ismail Sabri and Lokman agreed to the injunction order, which is in effect until the disposal of the case.

“The consent order is recorded as (in) the terms and draft. The court has fixed March 6 for case management,” said the judge.

Earlier, lawyer Joshua Tan, representing Ismail Sabri, said that both parties agreed on the inter-parte injunction order. The matter was also confirmed by lawyer Mohd Faiz Abd Rahim, representing Lokman.

Meanwhile, the two lawyers when met by reporters declined to disclose the terms stated in the draft agreement.

On September 12 last year, Ismail Sabri obtained an interim injunction from the high court here for Lokman to immediately delete all videos on his social media accounts that allegedly defamed him.

Ismail Sabri, 62, applied for the injunction in a suit he filed against Lokman, 49, on September 8 the same year.

The former prime minister, who is also Bera MP, filed the suit in his personal capacity. He named Lokman as the sole defendant. 

In the statement of claim, Ismail Sabri stated that Lokman had on August 22 made defamatory statements against him in a video, with the title Bila presiden Umno panggil tak datang! Tapi PM ada masa jumpa Mahathir – Lokman Adam” (When called by Umno president, he doesn’t come! But the PM has time to see Mahathir – Lokman Adam).

He claimed the malicious, defamatory and untrue statements were uploaded on four social media accounts belonging to the defendant, namely  “Lokman Adam” Youtube, “Lokman Noor Adam Official” Facebook, “lokmanooradam” Instagram and “datoklokmanadam” Tik Tok.

According to Ismail Sabri, the words meant, among other things, that he had met with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and planned or intended to plan with the former prime minister and other opposition political parties to remain as prime minister by turning his back on and betraying Umno. – Bernama, January 6, 2023