Apex Court denies Papa Gomo leave to appeal against RM800,000 award to Anwar

Blogger Papa Gomo has to pay RM800,000 in damages to former Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim after losing his final bid to set aside the award.

This was after the Federal Court today dismissed Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, also known as Papa Gomo's leave to appeal against the decision of the High Court in awarding the amount to Anwar.

The Court of Appeal had on Dec 4 last year affirmed the High Court's ruling.

A three-panel bench chaired by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum rejected the leave application with RM10,000 costs after finding that the appellant's case had no merit.

Also in the panel were Federal Court judges Tan Sri Hasan Lah and Tan Sri Zaharah Ibrahim.

The panel made the ruling after hearing submissions from Anwar's lawyer, Latheefa Koya and counsel Amran Aminuddin who represented Wan Muhammad Azri.

On Feb 28, 2014, Anwar won his case at the High Court against Wan Muhammad Azri, who was ordered to pay the plaintiff RM800,000 in damages and RM50,000 in cost for linking him to a man in a sex video.

Anwar filed the suit against Wan Muhammad Azri on March 21 2013, seeking RM100 million in damages, alleging that the blogger had posted a series of four defamatory statements and images on his blog dated March 16, 17, 19 and 20, 2013.