April 7 decision on Najib's application to include MACC, A-G's statements in lawsuit against Harakah

The High Court here has set April 7 to decide on Datuk Seri Najib Razak's application to amend his statement of claim in his lawsuit against Harakah and Harakahdaily.

The Prime Minister wanted to insert two statements verifying that he was not involved in the concerns of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

One statement, issued by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), confirmed that the RM2.6 billion in question was not from 1MDB.

The other statement, issued by Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, confirmed that the RM2.6 billion was a donation and that Najib was not involved in the SRC International case.

Lawyer Nor Emelia Mohd Iszeham represented Najib while Wan Rohimi Wan Daud represented Harakah managing director Dr Rosli Yaakop and Harakahdaily chief editor Taufek Yahya at the proceeding in chambers today, before Justice Datuk Hue Siew Kheng.

Nor Emilia told reporters that the court also set five days for hearing of the case on June 23-24, June 27 and June 29-30.

On March 18 last year, Najib filed the lawsuit against Rosli and Taufek for publishing an allegedly defamatory article written by Rosli on Feb 19 last year concerning 1MDB.

In his statement of claim, Najib said the article portrayed him as having misused 1MDB funds and that the publication of the article was intended to tarnish his reputation.

He alleged that the article had caused the public to condemn him in both social media and mass media.

Najib also alleged that Taufek failed to practise responsible journalism and did not verify whether the contents in Rosli's article were accurate before publishing it.

The prime minister further alleged that the defendant had intentionally published the article with a personal agenda to undermine the people's confidence in him.