The Kuala Lumpur High Court has given Indonesian model Manohara Odelia Pinot and her mother, until Nov 5, to appoint new lawyers to address her husband's RM105 million defamation claim, or risk judgment in default.

manohara odelia pinot meet malaysiakini interview 300609 03 Senior assistant Shazali Hidayat Shariff, made the decision today as a result of the absence of counsel to replace Manohara's previous lawyer.

A judgment in default means a binding decision is made in favor of the plaintiff when the defendant has not responded to a summons or has failed to appear before a court.

In such an event, Manohara and her mother, Daisy Fajarina, would have to pay the amount sought by the Kelantan prince.

Manohara is married to Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Sultan Ismail Petra. But she left him in June, complaining that he had abused her physically and sexually. She returned to Jakarta to be with her mother.

The prince was represented by counsel, Mohd Haaziq Pillay in today's proceedings.

On Oct 12, the court allowed Messrs Fakrul Hisham Abdullah & Associates to discharge itself from representing Manohara, and her mother, for according to them the two did not extend their full cooperation, making it difficult for the firm to ready the relevant documents to prepare their defence.

On July 20, in filing the suit Tengku Fakhry, has also successfully obtained leave to initiate this proceeding against his wife.

Defamatory statement made

The prince claimed that, between April and June, Daisy and Manohara had uttered slanderous and defamatory statements at a press conference that was carried by the Indonesian media, the news agency AFP and several Malaysian news outlets including Malaysiakini .

If taken verbatim, he said, the remarks have painted a picture that he is:

  • guilty of torturing, abusing and raping Manohara,
  • guilty of mistreatment and sexually harassing her,
  • forcibly abducting her and unlawfully confining her,
  • guilty of denying Manohara's family access to her,
  • guilty of stopping any form of contact between Daisy and Manohara,
  • guilty of slashing her chest with a razor,
  • guilty of injecting her with tranquilizers and weigh-gaining hormones.
tengku fakhry manohara odelia pinot 260609 He alleged the statements were made out of malice to injure his reputation and were motivated for financial reasons, but resulted in irreparable and maximum damage to him.

The Kelantan prince claimed the remarks had tarnished his good name, standing and reputation among royalty, the public and the international community.

Tengku Muhmmad Fakhry (left) had also initiated legal action on July 5 against the Indonesian model at the Kota Bharu Syariah Court to compel Manohara to return to him.

The prince has also asked the former Indonesian model to pay back nearly RM1 million which she had borrowed during their marriage.