The Kuala Lumpur High Court will tomorrow hear a defamation suit filed by former Malacca Chief Minister Abdul Rahim Tamby Cik against the DAP for allegedly defaming him in campaign posters and a book.

In the suit, which also names DAP former chairman Dr Chen Man Hin and former secretary-general Lim Kit Siang, Rahim claims that statements attributed to him in the "Support, Sympathy and Solidarity (SSS) with Lim Guan Eng" campaign posters and also in the "Lim Guan Eng - MP in Jail - Second Edition: Malaysian Dream from Kajang Prison" book implied that, among others, he had committed a criminal offence of statutory rape, had an intimate relationship with a school girl and guilty of engaging in an illicit and unlawful extramarital sexual relationship with an underaged girl.

Rahim added that the defamatory statements published also meant that he was unfit to hold public office, was corrupt and at all material times a person unfit for business or professional relationships.

The posters and the book were published following the imprisonment of Guan Eng, a three-term MP, after being found guilty of sedition and spreading false news. He began his 18-month jail sentence on Aug 26, 1998 when his appeal against conviction was rejected by the Federal Court.

Guan Eng, a member of parliament for Kota Melaka and DAP deputy secretary-general, went on trial in January, 1996 and was charged under the Sedition Act with "prompting disaffection with the administration of justice" after he publicly criticised the government's handling of allegations of statutory rape made against Rahim, in 1994.

He was also charged under the Printing Presses and Publications Act with "maliciously printing" a pamphlet allegedly containing "false information" about the case.

Guan Eng was released from the Kajang Prison on Aug 25 last year after serving one year of his 18-month jail sentence.

Rahim, now a businessman, said the book and posters were produced as a result of a campaign started by the defendants in mid-1998. He also added that the defendants had also broadcast the defamatory statements in DAP's [#1]website[/#].

He is claiming that the statements were false, unfounded and aired with a malicious intent and is seeking, apart from the injunction, damages and other reliefs deemed fit by the court.

The defendants deny they had defamed Rahim and claimed that they are not aware that the campaign posters or the book had made any inference, direct or indirect, that Rahim had acquired his property through unlawful or corrupt means.

The defendants have earlier entered into a consent agreement with Rahim not to repeat the allegations until the disposal of the suit.