Case management of ex-AG Apandi’s defamation suit against Kit Siang on July 21

KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — The High Court here has set a new date for case management of former Attorney General (AG) Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali’s RM10 million suit against DAP Advisor Lim Kit Siang for allegedly defaming him in an article on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

Lawyer Harshaan Zamani, representing Lim, told reporters that the court has set July 21 for next case management for both parties to prepare all documents for trial which was scheduled for September.

“We received a letter from Deputy Registrar Farah Shuhada Ramli dated June 2, stated that today’s case management was vacated to July 21 before judge Datuk Azimah Omar through e-review,” he said.

The lawyer also said during last proceedings, the court had fixed Sept 28 to 30 Sept and Oct 1 to 2 for the trial.

On July 5, 2019, Mohamed Apandi sued Lim and stated in his statement of claim that on May 6, 2019, Lim had written and caused to be published an article entitled ‘Dangerous fallacy to think Malaysia’s on the road to integrity’ in Malaysiakini.

He claimed that the alleged libellous words in the article meant that he was involved in crime and had abetted in the 1MDB financial scandal, was a person with no morals and integrity, was unethical and had abused his power when he was the AG.

Mohamed Apandi who was the AG from July 27, 2015, to June 4, 2018, contended that the libellous words were untrue and written with the intention of tarnishing his image and credibility as a former Malaysian AG for cheap publicity.

He is seeking aggravated and exemplary damages, as well as RM10 million in general damages, an injunction to prevent Lim and/or his agents from publishing the alleged defamatory words again and other relief deemed fit by the court. — Bernama