The High Court today rejected Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s application to strike out part of Anwar Ibrahim’s defence statement in a suit over a sex video featuring a man resembling the opposition leader.

Judge VT Singham held that Anwar’s defence statement of qualified privilege, fair comment and justification should be decided at the end of the trial.

He said the court should use its discretion when considering an application to strike out the defence and that he needed to hear the witnesses’ evidence by way of trial, to reach a just finding.

He said the defendant (Anwar) was entitled to file his statement of defence to rebut the case.

Singham fixed three days, beginning Dec 5, to hear the suit. However, the judge deleted three paragraphs of Anwar’s defence as they were not directly or indirectly related to the plaintiff (Hishammuddin).

The judge also ordered Hishammuddin to pay RM25,000 as costs to Anwar.

Counsel Sunil Abraham, representing Hishammuddin, informed the court that the plaintiff would call about 15 witnesses.

Anwar’s counsel, Sulaiman Abdullah, said the defendant would also call a similar number of witnesess.

On April 26, Hishammuddin sued Anwar for defamation over an interview the latter had with the media on March 22, at the Dang Wangi police headquarters, after lodging a report, denying he was the man in the video.

The minister said the words were understood to mean that he was responsible for screening the video to a group of editors and journalists at the Carcosa Seri Negara hotel on March 21.

He said the words were also understood to mean that he had arranged for the screening of the video and plotted with the prime minister and the police top brass to have it done.

In his statement of defence, Anwar countered, the words uttered by him were published on an occasion of qualified privilege and in the reasonable protection of his own legitimate interest as opposition leader.

Anwar also filed a counter-claim, saying that Hishammuddin’s words in his press conference on March 21, gave weight to the assertion by the three persons who exposed the video, that he (Anwar) was the man featured in it.

- Bernama