Information Communication and Culture Minister Dr Rais Yatim will testify in his defamation suit against a blogger, over a defamatory article on him posted on a blog.

High Court Judge Datin Zabariah Mohd Yusof set three days beginning July 4 to hear the suit. She fixed the date upon meeting counsel Azad Bashir for Rais and Gan Chee Wei representing the blogger, Amizudin Ahmat.

NONE Azad told reporters that the main witness from the plaintiff’s side was Rais ( left in picture ) himself. He also said that the court ordered parties to submit legal papers to court by May 23 and set May 25 for mention for parties to regularise all the documents before the hearing starts.

On Jan 31, Rais filed the suit against Amizudin, who is also a committee member of the youth wing of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), over the article published on Amizudin’s blog, with Rais’ photograph, on or about Dec 28 last year.

Rais is seeking general damages, special damages, aggravated damages, punitive damages, interest and injunction against the defendant to remove and to restrain the defendant from further publishing the article.

NONE On Feb 2, Rais obtained an ex-parte injunction from the High Court to compel Amizudin ( right ) to remove the alleged defamatory article and photograph of him (Rais) from his (Amizudin) blog, sharpshooterblogger.blogspot.com .

Amizudin had on March 21, agreed not to further publish the alleged libellous article.

In his statement of claim, Rais, 69, said the entire words in the Malay language article were malicious and defamatory of him.

The minister said the words in the article meant and/or were understood to mean that he was guilty of a serious offence of having raped and capable of murdering his Indonesian maid.

Rais also said that the defamatory words were understood to mean that he is an immoral person and/or leader.

‘Article gravely injured his reputation’

Rais said that following the article, he had been gravely injured in his personal and/or professional reputation nationally and/or internationally, in his character and credit, and had been brought into public scandal, odium and contempt as well as suffered considerable embarrassment, distress and damage.

Rais, who is the member of Parliament for Jelebu in Negeri Sembilan, denied the allegations last month after a blogger named him.

Subsequently, a woman who worked as a maid for him for eight years was reported by an Indonesian news portal to have denied that she had ever been mistreated or raped by her employer.

Amizudin in his statement of defence, defended that the article stated what had actually transpired.

- Bernama