A RM2 million defamation suit by two military officers against popular blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin is set for further case management on Oct 13.

Deputy registrar Hilmiah Yusof of the Kuala Lumpur High Court fixed the date in chambers today, reported Bernama .

The suit was filed by husband-and-wife team of Lt Col Abdul Aziz Buyong and Lt Col Norhayati Hassan over Raja Petra's statutory declaration implicating them in the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

raja petra demafation case 200109 Their suit was filed on July 22 last year and the couple claimed that Raja Petra's declaration contained accusations against them and the prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor regarding the murder.

According to the statutory declaration, Aziz had placed C4 on various parts of Altantuya's body while being witnessed by Rosmah and Norhayati.

They said the accusations were with malice and done in bad faith to tarnish their reputation, credibility, good name and career.

They said the accusations were made negligently and without regard for the need to ascertain whether the accusations were true or false, hence damaging their good name and reputation.

The couple sought RM1 million each in damages as well as exemplary damages and an injunction to prevent Raja Petra or his employees from repeating the alleged defamatory remarks.

The said statutory declaration was posted by Raja Petra in the Malaysia Today blog on June 18 last year.

Raja Petra is also facing a criminal defamation charge at the Sessions Court on the same matter, which is pending trial.

He is charged with defaming Rosmah, Abdul Aziz and Norhayati in his statutory declaration made at the Jalan Duta Court Complex here at 10.25am on June 18.

Last week, two elite team police officers were found guilty of murdering Altantuya and sentenced to death.

Both Chief Insp Azilah Hadri and Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar are appealing the decision.

A third person, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda was also initially charged with the murder but he was acquitted by the court on Oct 31 last year.

Ordered to pay RM1 million

Earlier this month, Raja Petra was also in the court for another of his articles, this time over his writings on Umno treasurer Abdul Aziz Mohd Zabidi.

On April 2, KL High Court senior assistant registrar Nor Hatini Abdul Hamid ordered Raja Petra to pay RM1 million in damages for defaming Abdul Azim.

The damage was fixed after the court allowed Abdul Azim's application for a judgment in default against Raja Petra.

The order followed the Malaysia Today editor's failure to enter an appearance during the civil proceedings.

Nor Hatini ordered Raja Petra to pay RM500,000 in general damages, another RM300,000 in aggravated damages and RM200,000 in exemplary damages.

The suit was brought by Abdul Azim in his personal capacity against Raja Petra for publishing two libellous articles on the website.