Kuala Lumpur: The High Court here has set a new date, July 25, to hear an inter-parte application for an injunction in a suit filed by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob against the owner of Agenda Daily Media Enterprise over the publication of an article that allegedly defamed the prime minister.
Lawyer Joshua Tan, representing Ismail Sabri when contacted, said the hearing date was set by Deputy Registrar Idamasliza Maarof during the case management, conducted online (e-Review).
“The application will be heard before Judge Datuk Nik Hasmat Nik Mohamad via video conference,” said the lawyer, adding that the hearing of the application had earlier been set for Wednesday.
On March 4, the High Court allowed an application by Ismail Sabri, 62, for to obtain an ad-interim injunction against Muhamad Izwan Mohd Zubit, 37, to maintain status quo pending the disposal of the inter-parte injunction application (two parties).
On Feb 18, Ismail Sabri obtained an interim injunction from the High Court for the defendant to remove the posting and from making any statements in relation to him.
Ismail Sabri, in the defamation suit which he filed in his personal capacity, alleged that on Jan 30, Agenda Daily had published the article on its website which contained various ill-intentioned, defamatory and untrue statements regarding him.
He said that the article, among others, implied that he was desperate to continue to be the prime minister in whatever way and was even willing to beg certain political parties not to withdraw their support for him besides inferring that he was concerned about becoming the prime minister with the shortest tenure in Malaysian history.
As a result of the publication of the article, Ismail Sabri said his reputation as UMNO member and as prime minister had been tarnished, caused him emotional turmoil and had a negative effect on his political career.
Meanwhile, Muhamad Izwan, in his defence statement, claimed that he and the company had practiced responsible journalism when writing and uploading articles relating to Ismal Sabri on the website, and also denied that the article contained defamatory and malicious statements against the prime minister.
Ismail Sabri, in his reply, said that he had never appealed to any political party to maintain their support for him to continue as Prime Minister.
