Decision on Anwar's libel suit against Khairy set for Sept 29

The High Court here today fixed Sept 29 to deliver its decision on the RM100 million defamation suit filed by former opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim against Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Judge Azizul Azmi Adnan set the date after hearing submissions from lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, representing Khairy, and lawyer R. Sivarasa, acting for Anwar.

The court also set the same date for a decision on Khairy's application to amend his statement of defence by inserting the element of fair comment with regard to his statement.

The hearing of the lawsuit ended after 12 witnesses gave their evidence since Sept 19, 2016. However, Khairy then filed an application to amend his statement of defence.

On March 7, 2008, Anwar filed the lawsuit against Khairy, claiming RM100 million in damages from Khairy, who was the UMNO Youth vice-chief then, for allegedly uttering defamatory words and disseminating a video clip titled, 'Anwar and kin no threat' which appeared on websites, including Malaysiakini.com.

Anwar claimed that the video clip contained defamatory remarks made by Khairy in his speech at a ceramah in Lembah Pantai, here, on or around Feb 20, 2008.

Khairy, in his statement of defence filed on Oct 8, 2010, said his defence hinged on justification and conditional protection.

-- BERNAMA