PM gets trial stay for Harakah lawsuit over stepson report
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today obtained a stay from the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on a hearing scheduled for next month on his suit against PAS mouthpiece Harakah for a report on his stepson Riza Aziz.
The hearing was originally fixed to be heard from Oct 7 to 16, before Justice Hue Siew Kheng.
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today obtained a stay from the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on a hearing scheduled for next month on his suit against PAS mouthpiece Harakah for a report on his stepson Riza Aziz.
The hearing was originally fixed to be heard from Oct 7 to 16, before Justice Hue Siew Kheng.
Najib is appealing Justice Hue's decision two months ago, in which the judge did not allow certain paragraphs of Harakah and online portal Harakahdaily 's defence to be struck out.
The case management for the appeal at the Court of Appeal has been fixed for Oct 8.
High Court senior assistant registrar V Vanita today fixed Oct 16 for case management, after the Court of Appeal matter.
Vanita allowed the stay after defence counsel Emirul Sarifudin and Nadzraturn Naim did not object to the stay application made by Najib's lawyer Nor Emelia Iszeham.
Harakah article cites an NYT report
It was reported that Najib named the managing director of Harakah , Rosli Yaakob, and the chief editor of the portal Harakahdaily , Taufek Yahya, over its report on 1MDB related to his stepson Riza.
The Harakah article was written by Rosli, formerly a deputy director at Bank Negara.
The article cited a report by The New York Times on the matter, implying possible abuse of 1MDB funds.
The prime minister claims that the publication of the article damaged his reputation and caused him to be condemned on the social and mass media.
Najib has also filed suits against DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli and DAP’s Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming.
Related reports
As Najib struggles in graft scandal, Umno plays race card
1MDB to PAC No 2: Tell Jr not to piggyback on unfounded claims
MP: IGP’s justification for Khairuddin arrest laughable
The Edge saga continues as AG files appeal

