Najib to submit objection on articles for defence by Harakah

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will submit a preliminary objection on the use of 20 articles by Harakah and Harakahdaily in their defence over his suit pertaining to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Lawyer Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun, representing Najib, said his client was ordered to inform the counsel for both defendants on the objection before Dec 21.

"The judge gave us two weeks to write to them (defendants) over the objection on the irrelevancy of those articles," he told reporters after meeting High Court judge Datuk Hue Siew Kheng in chambers here.

The court also set Jan 8 for case management.

Meanwhile, lawyer Muhammad Faiz Fadzil, representing Harakah and Harakah Daily, said they would ask the plaintiffs to identify the articles concerned.

The 20 articles are said to be posted in other portals and by bloggers.

Najib had filed the suit on March 18 this year and named Harakah managing director Dr Rosli Yaakob and Harakahdaily editor-in-chief Taufek Yahya as the defendants.

The suit is pertaining to the publishing of an article written by Rosli on Feb 19 regarding 1MDB.

In his statement of claim, Najib said the article had imputed that he had misused 1MDB funds.

He said the publishing of the article was meant to tarnish his reputation and had resulted in people condemning him on social media and the mass media.

Najib also claimed that Taufek failed to practice responsible journalism by not verifying whether what he had written was truthful before publishing the article.

The Prime Minister further claimed that the defendants had published the article purpose in pursuit of their personal agenda which was to destroy the people's confidence in him.

He is seeking general damages, aggravated damages, exemplary damages and interest as well an injunction to stop the defendants or their assistants from further publishing such articles.