The hearing of appeals by PAS and three others against a court order to pay RM200,000 damages to the late writer, Khalid Jafri Bakar Shah, was adjourned today for his counsel to substitute his

widow, Rozihan A Ghani, as the respondent.

Court of Appeal judges Zaleha Zahari, Sulong Matjeraie and KN Segara allowed counsel Shamsul Bahrain Ibrahim's application for the adjournment as he had asked for time to make the name substitution.

khalid jafri 160805 Khalid Jafri ( right ), author of the controversial book, '50 Dalil Mengapa Anwar Tidak Boleh Jadi PM’, died on Aug 29, 2005, at the age of 65 due to complications from diabetes.

On Aug 13, 2001, PAS, as the owner and publisher of the Harakah newspaper, Harakah editor Zulkifli Sulong, publisher Syarikat Prema and head of the Harakah English section Muhammad Abdul Rahman Koya were ordered to pay RM200,000 to Khalid Jafri for defaming him and publishing slanderous statements.

 

Syarikat Prema is the appellant in the first appeal while PAS, Zulkifli and Muhammad are the appellants in the second appeal.

Name substituted in first appeal

    

Shamsul Bahrain informed the court that he had substituted the name of the respondent to Rozihan in the first appeal but not in the second.

 

Counsel Bahari Yeow Tian Hong, for Syarikat Prema, and Zamani Ibrahim, for PAS, Zulkifli and Muhammad, did not object to the adjournment.

The court adjourned the case to a date to be set.

Khalid Jafri had sued the defendants over an article entitled ‘Malaysia Sweeps 10 Oscars’ which appeared in Harakah in March 1999.  

He had claimed that the article meant and was understood to mean that he was a common criminal and an undesirable element indulging in criminal activities against Malay literary works.

The defendants claimed that the article was a satire and fiction and had been printed in jest.  

- Bernama