The defamation suit filed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak against Petaling Jaya Utara MP, Tony Pua Kiam Wee over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) issue will be heard in court from Sept 18 to 20.

Judicial Commissioner Datuk Roslan Abu Bakar set the dates in chambers, with lawyer Nor Hazira Abu Haiyan, representing Najib, and Pua's lawyer Alliff Benjamin Suhaimi also present.

Met by reporters, Alliff Benjamin said the court also set April 3 to hear Pua's application to strike out Najib's suit.

Najib, in his personal capacity, had filed the defamation suit on March 5 last year, naming Pua, 43, as the first defendant and Mediarakyat.net portal owner, Chan Chee Kong, 52, as the second defendant, over the 1MDB issue.

Najib, as the plaintiff in his statement of claims, stated that on Nov 13, 2014, Pua, as the main speaker at a DAP fund-raising dinner, had made libellous remarks on 1MDB.

Najib said a recording of the speech was uploaded by Chan himself and/or his agents on the Mediarakyat YouTube and Mediarakyat website under what he claimed was a libellous heading.

He said the recorded speech contained words that referred to and related to him and defamed him and the individual known as the 'prime minister', and must have referred specifically to him (Najib).

Najib said the publication of the defamatory words had damaged his reputation as the recording of the speech could be assessed widely and easily throughout the world via the Internet, blogs, forums and websites without any restriction and could be reshared. -- Bernama