KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — Sued for defamation by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, news portal Malaysiakini is seeking to change the trial judge assigned to hear the case, arguing the possibility of prejudice.
In a report today, Malaysiakini said it had filed the application Tuesday, requesting that High Court judicial commissioner Kamaluddin Md Said be removed from the case and be replaced with a High Court judge instead.
In the application jointly filed by the portal’s company Mkini Dotcom and its editor-in-chief Steven Gan and chief editor Fathi Aris Omar, they asked the court to suspend the defamation suit until their request for a judge replacement is heard.
The three defendants expressed concern over a judicial commissioner hearing the case initiated by Najib, pointing out that the promotion of judicial commissioners to become High Court judges depends on the prime minister’s endorsement.
It added that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong usually appoints individuals to such positions based on the prime minister’s advice after he has consulted with the Chief Justice of Malaysia.
“The appointment of the learned judicial commissioner as a judge in the period before the next general election would...depend on the 2nd plaintiff (Najib) endorsing such appointment,” read an excerpt of the application quoted on Malaysiakini.
Judicial commissioners can hear cases in the High Court but are appointed under contracts that can be renewed. Some of them may later find themselves appointed to permanent positions as High Court judges.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court has fixed July 8 as case management for the application to replace the judicial commissioner with a High Court judge, Malaysiakini said.
In an affidavit to support Mkini’s application, Gan said the independence of the judiciary is necessary for the “rule of law” and a “fundamental guarantee of a fair trial”, adding that the latter was a legitimate expectation and a right under the Federal Constitution.
But he said that judicial commissioners “do not enjoy security of tenure” and there was no certainty that they would later be appointed as High Court judges.
“This state of affairs may cause a fair-minded and informed bystander to entertain a fear of real danger of bias on the part of the JC (judicial commissioner). The other defendants and I are uncomfortable with the situation,” he was quoted saying.
On May 30, Umno and its president Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his personal capacity had filed the defamation suit against Malaysiakini over a series of readers’ posts published on their website related to the recent Terengganu mentri besar saga.
Umno and Najib are seeking compensation, a written apology and an injunction to stop Malaysiakini from publishing the allegedly defamatory comments.
The suit centres on two articles published by Malaysiakini during the brief leadership crisis in Terengganu last May, titled “A case of the PM reaping what he sows” and “How much will Najib spend to keep Terengganu?”.
The plaintiffs also claimed that the publication of the two articles had allegedly sparked tension between them and the public, owing to the implication that both claimants were incompetent, without integrity, racist and immoral, among other charges.
