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PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has ruled in a unanimous decision that Khairy Jamaluddin can challenge a High Court decision that found that he had defamed opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in a speech at a rally 12 years ago.
“We order that this case be referred to the Court of Appeals to be heard on its merits,” said Chief Judge of Sabah and Judge of Sarawak Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, who presided over a five-man court on Tuesday (December 15). ).
The higher court also arranged case management through an electronic review for Wednesday (December 16).
At the public hearing with the attorneys who appeared through Zoom, Khairy’s attorney, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, told the court that the amount of preparation for the case at the Federal Court level was extensive and requested RM100,000 in costs.
However, Anwar’s attorney, J. Leela, said the amount requested was too high.
“We would ask for costs of RM10,000. In this case, it has been remitted, so it should be the cost in the case,” he said.
The Federal Court set 30,000 ringgit in costs.
Other judges on the bench were Federal Court Judges, Justices P. Nallini, Vernon Ong Lam Kiat, Hasnah Mohammed Hashim, and Rhodzariah Bujang.
Anwar had sued Khairy on March 7, 2008, accusing the latter of uttering defamatory words about him during a ceramah in Lembah Pantai on February 20 of the same year and prompted the publication of a video clip titled “Anwar and kin no threat.” on news portals.
On September 29, 2017, a Kuala Lumpur High Court found that Khairy had defamed Anwar and ordered the defendant to pay RM 150,000 in damages and RM 60,000 in costs to Anwar.
Khairy appealed the decision, but in February 2018, the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal after allowing Anwar’s request to void the appeal notice on technical grounds.
The appeals court had said that Khairy’s notice of appeal was “ambiguous and uncertain”.
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