Umno lawyer Hafarizam Harun today said the landmark decision that politicians as public figures cannot sue the media for defamation will only have little impact on ongoing cases involving his client Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

When met at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, he said this was because most of the cases were filed by Najib in his personal capacity.

"The Adnan Yaakob versus Utusan is a distinguishable case as it involves his capacity as a menteri besar.

"Whereas in my client's case, it (the defamation suit) is done in his personal capacity," Hafarizam said in reference to the Court of Appeal's decision allowing Utusan Malaysia 's appeal to strike out the suit filed by Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob.

The lawyer said this when asked on impact of the decision on other ongoing cases , including the suit filed by Najib against Malaysiakini on May 30, 2014.

At the same time, Hafarizam also welcomed the decision as one which will protect the media.

"He (Najib) is not suing the media except for Malaysiakini and Harakah ," said Hafarizam who earlier met with High Court judge Hue Siew Kheng in the case of Najib versus Harakah and Harakahdaily.

In noting there are several ongoing defamation suits filed by Najib, Hafarizam said the main difference remains that most of the statements are also related to personal claims against him.

Najib, together with co-claimant Umno executive secretary Abdul Rauf Yusoh, had filed a suit against Malaysiakini over compilation of readers' comments in two ‘Yoursay’ articles published on May 14, namely ‘A case of the PM reaping what he sows’ and ‘How much will Najib spend to keep Terengganu?’.

The case against PAS organs Harakah and Harakahdaily filed on March 18 last year, meanwhile, were based on a Feb 19 article linking Najib to missing funds from state-investor 1MDB.