KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be recalled to testify in his defamation suit against Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman after the High Court here allowed the minister’s application to amend his statement of defence relating to the allegation that the opposition leader had offered him RM100 million to switch to the opposition.
Judicial commissioner Siti Khadijah S. Hassan Badjenid made the decision after hearing submissions from lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who represented Anifah and Anwar’s lawyer Razlan Hadri Zulkifli. The court set Feb 17 for Anwar to testify.
Meanwhile, the court dismissed another application filed by Anifah, who is also Kimanis member of Parliament, to amend his statement of defence pertaining to the allegation that Anwar was a homosexual on ground that it prejudiced against the opposition leader. The full trial of the case began on Aug 25 last year and ended on Dec 26 after Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi, who is the final witness called by the defendant, testified.
However, after hearing the witness’ testimony, Anifah made an application to amend his statement of defence. Anwar filed the RM100 million defamation suit against Anifah on May 27, 2009, claiming that the minister’s remarks at a media conference in Washington with former U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in May 2009, had tarnished his image.
He also accused Anifah of depicting him as a person who was unfit to hold a political or any office and dangerous to Malaysian society. Anwar also alleged that the defendant’s remarks which were widely reported in the local and foreign media, had cast imputations on his character and directly and indirectly portrayed him as unethical, unprincipled and corrupt.
