KUALA LUMPUR – The Taiping High Court has ordered Perak PAS commissioner Razman Zakaria to file his statement of defence on the defamation suit filed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim by January 31.
The suit is over a speech that Razman made, allegedly linking the Pakatan Harapan chairman with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender culture.
Anwar’s lawyer Datuk S. N. Nair said the court also ordered his client to reply to the statement of defence by February 20.
“Further case management is set for February 24,” he said after the case management before judicial commissioner Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin conducted online today.
It was also attended by Jaden Phoon, another lawyer representing Anwar, and Razman’s counsel Nurul Atiqah Badrul Hisham.
Anwar filed the suit on December 5, naming the Gunung Semanggol assemblyman as the sole defendant.
Based on the statement of claim, Anwar said that on November 6 last year, the defendant spoke about the matter during the 15th general election (GE15) campaign at the Tebuk Pancur night market.
He claimed the speech was broadcast live on Razman’s Facebook under the username “Haji Razman Zakaria”, having been viewed over 94,400 times and received over 5,100 reactions, 429 shares, and over 2,600 comments as of today.
According to the PKR president, the live video broadcast was later published in an article dated November 6, 2022, in Malay and English and uploaded on a news portal.
The Tambun MP said the defamatory statements were made to ruin his reputation, adding that the allegations in the article were untrue as he had always championed Islamic teachings and values.
He also claimed that the defendant made the defamatory statement to sully his good name by inciting the public and creating hatred towards him and the party during the GE15 campaign.
The defendant had also violated Section 4A of the Election Offences Act 1954 and failed to apologise to him for his actions, Anwar said.
Anwar is seeking general, compensatory, aggravated, and exemplary damages and an injunction to stop the defendant or his agents from repeating or causing the publication of the slanderous article in addition to claiming costs, interest, and other appropriate relief. – Bernama, January 6, 2023
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