Utusan fails to include Anwar’s conviction in statement

comments     Bernama     Published     Updated

Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd and its group editor-in-chief Abdul Aziz Ishak have failed for a second time in their application to include Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II conviction in their defence statement against a defamation suit.

High Court Judge Hue Siew Kheng dismissed their application in chambers today and ordered Utusan to pay RM8,000 in costs to the former opposition Leader.

Lawyer Shahid Adli Kamarudin, representing Anwar, told reporters that the judge dismissed the application on the grounds that the Court of Appeal had decided that Section 55 of the Evidence Act 1950 prohibits use of previous conviction to portray bad character.

On Sept 4, Utusan and Abdul Aziz lost their appeal (to include Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II conviction) in the Court of Appeal.

Anwar, 68, sued Utusan and Abdul Aziz over two articles against him which were published in Utusan Malaysia on Jan 17, 2012, relating to his (Anwar’s) interview with BBC on homosexual laws.

The High Court, on Jan 21, 2013, allowed Anwar’s civil suit and ordered damages to be assessed. The Court of Appeal, in January last year, upheld the High Court decision.

Utusan and Abdul Aziz applied to amend their defence statement on July 2 last year to include the Court of Appeal ruling on March 7 last year, which found Anwar guilty of sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, and sentenced him (Anwar) to five years’ jail.

They also wanted to include the Federal Court’s decision on Feb 10 this year which upheld the Court of Appeal ruling.

Anwar is serving his jail sentence in the Sungai Buloh prison.

The assessment of damages in the case is scheduled for hearing on Oct 6.

- Bernama



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