Oct 19 decision on quantum of damages in Anwar's defamation suit against Utusan

The High Court Thursday fixed Oct 19 to decide on the amount of damages to be paid by Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim over the defamation suit he won two years ago.

The suit pertained to two Utusan Malaysia (newspaper)'s articles on his comments to BBC during an interview on homosexuality law.

Justice Datuk Hue Siew Kheng made the decision after rejecting a submission by Utusan and its group editor-in-chief Datuk Abdul Aziz Ishak to use Anwar's previous convictions to reduce the damages payable in the defamation suit.

Hue said the court was bound by the decision made by the Court of Appeal on May 29 in a suit filed by Anwar against S. Nallakaruppan, Utusan Melayu and Abdul Aziz.

In the decision, the Court of Appeal decided that criminal convictions could not be used in a civil suit.

"Therefore, Utusan's application cannot be accepted and cannot be allowed by the court," she said.

The court fixed Oct 15 for both parties to file their submissions.

On Jan 21, 2013, Justice Datuk V. T. Singham ruled that the two articles published by Utusan Melayu on Jan 17, 2012 relating to Anwar's interview with the BBC were defamatory and allowed the plaintiff's claim with RM45,000 costs.

Anwar filed the suit on Jan 10, 2012 seeking RM50 million in damages for the defamatory articles which appeared on the front page and page 10 of Utusan Malaysia.

He contended that the words in the articles implied he was a Muslim leader who held views inconsistent with the teachings of Islam.

Anwar, who was represented by lawyer N.Surendran and Latheefa Koya, was present at Thursday's proceedings. Both defendants were represented by Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin.