The High Court in Kuala Lumpur fixed April 18 for the case management of the RM10 million defamation suit filed by Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association president Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar against lawyer Kamar Ainiah Kamaruzaman.

Justice Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera set the date after the suit came up for case management today.

Kamar Ainiah, the lawyer representing Anwar Ibrahim in his qazaf case, is represented by Dorina Abdullah while Zainur Rijal is represented by Nizam Bashir.

Met outside the court, Nizam said he had filed an amended statement of claim this morning and that the court had given the defendants three weeks to file their statement of defence.

Zainur Rijal’s Feb 15 defamation suit named Kamar Ainiah and her firm Messrs Kamar Ainiah, Razif & Zashidi as the respondents.

Zainul Rijal claimed that Kamar Ainiah had made a defamatory statement to a group of reporters outside the Federal Territory Syariah Court Complex in August 2011 to tarnish his image as a lawyer and businessman.

He sought an injunction to remove the posts immediately and for a week-long apology to be posted on Malaysiakini and Harakahdaily.

He is also seeking RM10 million in general damages and special, aggravated and exemplary damages.

- Bernama