Four months after his 'sodomiser' remark, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been slapped with a RM100 million defamation suit, filed by his former protege and once heir apparent, Anwar Ibrahim.

The former deputy premier's suit was filed by lawyer Sankara N Nair this afternoon at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

"I have decided to move on with my life after my acquittal by the Federal Court in September 2004. Sadly, however, Tun Mahathir continues to remain defiant in repeating his allegations. I'm left with no choice but to proceed with this suit," Anwar said in a statement read by his legal counsel, Sankara.

Anwar's legal team will also include former United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Param Cumaraswamy, Anuar Shaddat and Raja Aziz Addruse, who will act as lead counsel.

"We are confident that our client will win the case. I reiterate that my client is not a homosexual nor a sodomist," said Sankara when contacted today.

Worldwide publicity

On Sept 20 last year, Anwar said he would initiate legal action against Mahathir if the former prime minister refused to apologise and pay RM100 million in compensation for alleging that he (Anwar) was a 'sodomist' .

The remark was made at the sidelines of an event organised by the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) on Sept 9, 2005.

Mahathir said that he sacked Anwar to prevent Malaysia from having a homosexual leader.

"I cannot have a person who is like that in my cabinet who may succeed and become the prime minister. Imagine having a gay prime minister. Nobody would be safe," Mahathir told reporters at the time.

True to form, Mahathir rejected the demands and said he would "vigorously defend" any proceeding against him.

In his statement of claims, Anwar said that Mahathir's had uttered the "offending statement" fully knowing about the former's acquittal and that he (Mahathir) would receive worldwide press converage.

Court injunction

Anwar is also seeking an injunction to restrain Mahathir from making similar defamatory statements.

Once heir apparent to Mahathir, Anwar was sacked in 1998 and subsequently charged and convicted for sodomy and corruption in which he slapped with a total of 15 years for both offences.

Last year, the sodomy conviction was quashed upon appeal to the Federal Court and he was freed. By then, he had already completed his six-year jail sentence for corruption.

Till this day, Anwar has adamantly claimed that the charges were trumped up as part of a political conspiracy against him, an allegation which Mahathir had denied.