Online news portal Malaysiakini did not plead the defence of reportage but only raised the issue during submissions at the High Court, argued Raub Australian Gold Mine (RAGM) at the Court of Appeal today.

Yet, RAGM's senior counsel Cecil Abraham told a three-member bench, the court had decided to accept it.

He submitted that the defence of reportage should have been made separately from the defence of qualified privilege, which was cited in Malaysiakini's defence, in the defamation suit filed by the gold mine company...