Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's RM50 million defamation  suit against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim will begin in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur in August.

 

Judicial commissioner ‎Azizul Azmi Adnan fixed Aug 10 to 14 and ‎Aug 17, 18, 21, 24, and 25 as the hearing dates in his chambers today.

 

Anwar's lawyer Shahid Adli Kamaruddin said he has received instructions to apply to strike out certain paragraphs in Saiful's statement of claim.

 

Shahid said the High Court has also fixed May 22 as case management on the matter to decide on the agreed facts that are to go on trial.

 

Saiful filed the suit last August for defamation and for being sodomised, for which Anwar is serving a jail sentence after the government succeeded in overturning the initial 2012 acquittal.

In his statement of claim, Saiful said the High Court had affirmed that he was a credible witness and the Court of Appeal, in overturning the High Court decision, had verified his credibility and ruled that his testimony could be trusted.

He further said in the suit that he had not defamed Anwar but it was Anwar who defamed him at various ceramah sessions by alleging that the police report Saiful lodged against the politician was false and that it was done with ill intent.

Saiful further listed down the press conferences that Anwar held with the local and foreign media in 2008 to prove his point.

He said Anwar had initially filed a suit against him but later withdrew it, many years later, after his initial acquittal by the High Court in 2012.

Saiful: Anwar tarnished my reputation

The statements made by Anwar during the press conferences, Saiful said, has led to public scorn against him and tarnished his reputation.

"Anwar's statement resulted in public scorn in the social media and various websites. I was also ridiculed by Anwar's supporters.

"There is also a Facebook account, ‘We hate Saiful Bukhari’, with 134,000 likes and Anwar's party mouthpiece, Keadilan Daily, published various articles in 2011," he said.

Saiful further claimed that Anwar's qazaf application created the public perception that he (Saiful) could not be trusted.

The incident and defamatory statements resulted in him not being able to acclimatise himself within society and he also faced difficulty in gaining employment.

The Federal Court five-member bench led by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria on Feb 10 upheld the conviction and five-year jail sentence on Anwar handed down by the Court of Appeal and the opposition leader is serving the term at the Sungai Buloh Prison.

Lawyer Zamri Idrus appeared for Saiful in today's proceedings.