Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's appeal to strike out certain portions of Harakah 's defence following his suit over report on 1MDB and his step-son Riza Aziz has been fixed for hearing on Nov 13 at the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya.

PAS mouthpiece Harakah 's report is based on an article which was published in the New York Times .

The date was fixed during case management before an appellate court registrar.

This was relayed to Malaysiakini by lawyer Faiz Fadzil ( photo ) who is representing Harakah managing director Dr Rosli Yaakob and Harakahdaily chief editor Taufek Yahya.

Najib named the two as defendants in his libel suit filed in March, following the publication of the article.

The PM is seeking general, aggravated, exemplary damages, interests and an injunction to prevent the defendants or their assistants from publishing the article.

Najib also sought an order for the defendants to tender a written apology for publication in the press.

It was reported last August that Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Justice Hue Siew Kheng dismissed Najib's striking out application of certain paragraphs of Harakah 's defence as the portal cited qualified privilege in its defence.

Besides the suit against Harakah , Najib also filed suits against DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua, PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli, DAP's Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming and Malaysiakini .