March 9 case management of Najib's suit against Harakah

The High Court today fixed March 9 next year for case management in the defamation suit of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak against PAS' Harakah and Harakahdaily publications over an article on 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

Judge Datuk Hue Siew Kheng set the date in chambers in the presence of counsel Nik Alia Hanafi, representing Najib, and counsel Wan Rohimi Wan Daud, representing Harakah managing director Dr Rosli Yaakob and Harakahdaily chief editor Taufek Yahya.

Wan Rohimi, when approached by reporters, said the court set the date pending the hearing of Najib's two appeals in the Court of Appeal on March 7.

One of the appeals is against a High Court decision on April 7 dismissing an application by Najib to amend his statement of claim to insert statements by Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Malaysia (SPRM).

The other is against a High Court decision of May 23 dismissing his application for the suit to be disposed based on points of law without going for a full trial.

Najib filed the suit on March 18, 2015 against Rosli and Taufek over an alleged defamatory article written by Rosli and published on Feb 19, 2015.

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 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. -- Bernama