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PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has fastened Feb 7 for its decision on an appeal by Khairy Jamaluddin against a defamation suit filed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim over a press release made at a political rally 14 years in the past.
A 3-man panel chaired by Justice Lee Swee Seng,set the date after listening to submissions from each events in on-line proceedings by way of Zoom right here on Monday (Jan 17).
The different judges had been Justice Darryl Goon Siew Chye and Justice Ghazali Cha.
“We thank counsel for each events for his or her submissions. We require a while to deliberate on the matter. We repair the decision to be delivered on Feb 7 at 9am, after the Chinese New Year,” Justice Lee mentioned.
The court docket additionally ordered for the events to file their written submissions on prices on Jan 24.
Earlier, lawyer Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, who represented Anwar, mentioned the phrases uttered by Khairy carried a defamatory that means and it didn’t matter what the supposed that means was.
“In this regard, it’s pertinent to keep in mind that the phrases or statements complained of by the plaintiff are that: ‘Anwar predominant dua-dua ikut belakang’.
“In plain and extraordinary that means of the Malay language as understood by extraordinary and affordable Malaysians, whether or not he’s a Malay or not, the phrases confer with just one act that’s, within the context of which the phrases had been mentioned or uttered, the act of homosexuality,” Sri Ram mentioned.
The former Federal Court choose additional submitted that Anwar’s declare within the case was solely associated to 1 cost; that he was mentioned to be a gay or possesses the propensity to bask in such acts.
Khairy’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah submitted that the court docket shouldn’t be sure by the that means understood by the respondent (Anwar) when his consumer’s phrases had been meant to have a unique that means.
“In the context of the appellant’s phrases, it meant betrayal in politics however these phrases had been understood as one thing else by the respondent,” Muhammad Shafee mentioned.
Khairy is interesting against a court docket decision that ordered him to pay RM150,000 in damages following a defamation suit filed by Anwar over a speech in 2008.
Anwar filed the suit on March 7 that yr alleging that Khairy, as then Umno Youth deputy chief, had uttered defamatory phrases and precipitated the posting on web sites, together with Malaysiakini.com, of a video clip entitled “Anwar and kin no threat”.
The PKR chief claimed the video clip on Malaysiakini.com contained defamatory phrases spoken by Khairy at a ceramah in Lembah Pantai right here on or about Feb 20, 2008.
He mentioned the defamatory phrases, amongst others, meant that he was concerned in actions contradictory to Islam, was not of fine character and was not match to carry political or different positions.
In his assertion of defence filed on Oct 8, 2010, Khairy mentioned he relied on the defence of justification and certified privilege.
On Sept 29,2017, a Kuala Lumpur High Court discovered that Khairy had defamed Anwar and ordered him to pay RM150,000 in damages in addition to RM60,000 in prices.
Khairy appealed the decision however in February 2018, the Court of Appeal struck out his appeal after permitting Anwar’s utility to annul the discover of appeal on technical grounds.
In December 2020, the Federal Court dominated in a unanimous decision that Khairy might problem the High Court’s decision and ordered for it to be remitted to the Court of Appeal to be heard on its deserves.
