Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and Just World Movement president Dr Chandra Muzaffar have disagreed to settle out-of-court a RM10 million defamation suit brought by Anwar.

Chandra’s counsel Mohd Zaharudeen Harun told reporters that both parties did not agree to the court’s proposal to go for the mediation process to settle the suit out-of-court.

Therefore, the court fixed Sept 10 and 11 to hear the suit, he said.

Mohd Zaharudeen said this after meeting High Court Judge Nik Hasmat Nik Mohamad in chambers.

He said today, the court fixed the case for the mediation option.

Counsel Bani Prakash is representing Anwar.

On March 6, 2008, Anwar sued Chandra over alleged defamatory remarks about him made by the latter at a forum held at Menara Star in Petaling Jaya on March 3, 2008, which were subsequently published in newspapers.

He claimed that Chandra spoke the offending words to disparage him in both his private and official capacities, including as former deputy prime minister and former finance minister and alleged that the defamatory comments, among other things, meant that he promoted and incited racial hatred among the races in Malaysia.

Chandra, in his statement of defence filed on May 16, 2008, denied having uttered malicious, false or defamatory comments about Anwar, which the opposition leader claimed were published in two local English newspapers on March 5, 2008.

Alternatively, he claimed that if the words were defamatory, which he denied, then they were published on an occasion of qualified privilege without malice.

- Bernama