Trial on Najib's defamation suit against Tony Pua starts April 23

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak is expected to be called as a witness in the defamation suit trial against Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua Kiam Wee over a live video about the tabling of the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 Bill (Bill 355).
Counsel Nor Hazira Abu Haiyan, representing Najib, said the High Court here have fixed five days from April 23 for the trial of the case.
"The plaintiff is expected to call five witnesses including the Prime Minister to testify while the defendant (Pua) will summon 15 witnesses," she said after the case management today in the chambers of Judge Datuk Datuk Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab, which was also attended by Pua's counsel Tan Cheng Leong.
Meanwhile, Nor Hazira said the Federal Court on May 18 would hear Pua's appeal to set aside the interim injunction obtained by Najib against him.
The Court of Appeal on Feb 14 dismissed Pua's appeal to set aside the High Court decision made on Aug 4, 2017 in granting Najib the injunction order to restrain Pua from repeating the alleged slanderous allegations.
On April 21, 2017, Najib in his personal capacity sued Pua for slander pertaining to Pua's live video statement about the tabling of Bill 355.
In his statement of claim, Najib said Pua made a statement at the Parliament Building lobby on April 6, 2017, which was recorded and uploaded by the defendant and/or his agents on to his official Facebook page, under the name 'Tony Pua'.
The plaintiff claimed the two minutes and 21 seconds video clip titled, "BN Govt abandons all Bills to give precedence to PAS' RUU355 Private Member's Bill", could be widely and freely viewed and accessed in the internet.
Najib alleged that the defendant's statement had specifically referred to him and could be taken to mean that he had abused his power by giving an order through the Cabinet to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker to allow the motion by the Marang MP on the Private Member's Bill and to set aside other Bills. — Bernama