The Court of Appeal upheld the High Court decision which had ruled earlier that two articles published by Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd were defamatory and related to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s interview with the BBC on homosexual laws, two years ago.

A three-member panel headed by justice Zaharah Ibrahim ruled that there was no merit in the appellant’s appeal after perusing the grounds of judgment and notes of the proceedings of the High Court.  

The panel ordered cost of RM25,000 to be paid to the respondent.

The court also dismissed the application by Umno to intervene in the appeal. However, no costs were ordered.

The other two panel members were justice Mah Weng Kwai and K Anantham.

Later, counsel Abu Bakar As-Sidek told reporters that Umno made the application over the issue whether the party had influence over editorial policy of the daily.

The High Court last year ruled that the defendants Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd and its chief editor, Abdul Aziz Ishak, failed to establish all the statutory defences, namely justification, fair comment and qualified privilege.

On Jan 10 2012, Anwar filed a defamation suit seeking RM50mil in damages alleging the defendants had published the two articles in the Utusan Malaysia newspaper, on Jan 17, 2012, in relation to his BBC interview.

He had contended that the words implied he was unfit to hold public office and a Muslim leader who held views inconsistent with the teachings of Islam.

During today’s appeal, Anwar was represented by lawyer R Sivarasa, while Firuz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin appeared for Utusan.

- Bernama