Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has lost in his application at the High Court today for his defamation lawsuit against PAS-owned news portal Harakahdaily to be determined on point of law, without a full trial.
Najib’s lawyer, Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun, said the court had ruled that the questions of fact and law in the case must be discussed at a full trial, including tendering evidence and witness testimonies.
“PAC report needs to be tendered in full trial and not via Order 14A,” Hafarizam told Malay Mail Online when contacted, referring to an order for a summary disposal of the lawsuit on point of law.
National news agency Bernama reported Hafarizam as saying earlier this month that the defence of qualified privilege and fair comment no longer applied because the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report tabled in Parliament on April 7 purportedly stated that Najib was not involved in state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Hafarizam said today he will seek instructions from his client on whether to appeal today’s decision at the Court of Appeal.
In the defamation suit filed on March 18 last year, Najib named Harakahdaily’s chief editor Taufek Yahya and managing director Dr Rosli Yaakob as respondents over the portal’s article linking Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz to 1MDB.
The Harakahdaily article titled “Dana 1MDB biayai syarikat filem Riza Aziz?” (“1MDB funds used to finance Riza Aziz’s film company?”) had questioned the source of the money used by Riza Aziz’s film production company Red Granite Production to produce “The Wolf of Wall Street”. The article allegedly alluded to a connection between 1MDB funds and the 2013 Hollywood movie.
Source from malaymail online
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