KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — There was no malice on the part of former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob when they commented on a photograph showing PKR vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar meeting with Jacel Kiram, the daughter of self-proclaimed Sulu Sultan Jamalulail Kiram.

This was senior federal counsel Normastura Ayub’s submission today, in the defamation case against the duo by Nurul Izzah, who is also Pantai Member of Parliament.

"They made the statements in response to questions from the press at separate functions which were unrelated to the issue. They were merely stating their opinion,” Normastura, who is representing both defendants, told the High Court.

Meanwhile, the plaintiff’s counsel R. Sivarasa submitted that the defendants failed to show evidence that the meeting between Nurul Izzah and Jacel Kiram was planned and not a coincidence.

Sivarasa also said Khalid had not been telling the truth because the statement he made at the media conference and his testimony in court were not the same.

Judicial commissioner Datuk Faizah Jamaludin set April 9 for decision.

During the trial, three witnesses testified on the plaintiff’s side — Nurul Izzah, her father Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PKR vice president Tian Chua or Chua Tian Chang, and two witnesses, on the defendants’ side — Ismail Sabri and Khalid.

Nurul Izzah filed the suit on November 26, 2015, alleging that Khalid had disparaged her in a media conference at Bukit Aman Police Headquarters on November 22, 2015 and Ismail Sabri, at a function in Bera, Pahang the same day.

She claimed their statements implied that she was a traitor to the country and party to the militant intrusion in Sabah in 2013 which Jamalulail Kiram allegedly orchestrated. — Bernama