No money for Ummi: Court strikes out RM100mil suit against "ex"

Controversial political personality Ummi Hafilda is out of luck, in so far as her RM100 million sex lawsuit against an ex-boyfriend Nor Azman Abdullah is concerned.

She had accused Nor Azman and news portal Malaysiakini of defaming her by portraying her as an "immoral, scandalous and cheap woman, a liar and an untrustworthy person".

According to the Star, the High Court struck off the defamation suit after the Umno businesswoman decided to withdraw it.

This is a surprise move from Ummi given that when she resuscitated the suit last month, she had made a big show of it, even staging a sumpah laknah or calamity oath at the sidelines of the court proceedings.

“I am taking this sumpah (laknat) in the holy month of Ramadan that I did not have sex with Baginda Minda. If I lie, then calamity will fall upon me,” she said at the court premises.

Sex stalemate through the years

The current sexual stalemate between Ummi and Baginda began on March 15, 2011. Baginda basically repeated what he had said in court some 10 year ago during the sodomy trial against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

“I had sex with Ummi in London,” was what Baginda had testified on April 21, 2001.

He had also said that Ummi had been infatuated with him, even begging him to leave his wife to elope with her. An upset Ummi not only denied his allegations, but also claimed that she was "still a virgin".

Fast forward 10 years, the pair are still at loggerheads over whether they had an affair or not.

This time, Baginda was upset at Ummi for attacking Anwar and her own brother Azmin Ali during by-election ceramahs at Kerdau and Merlimau. He publicly rebuked her during a press conference in the Parliament lobby on March 15.

“She herself had scandals… in London, with me. Where have her morals gone?” said Baginda.

Political assassin

Ummi then slapped him with a RM100 million defamation suit. She is also suing Malaysiakini as the second defendant.The portal had reported Baginda's comments the same day. She also alleged that the article had painted her as a witness who would lie while testifying in court, a businesswoman who was desperate for opportunities, and a person who was also involved in Saiful Bukhari Azlan's current sodomy allegations against Anwar.

Ummi has been aligned to several camps within Umno at various times, including Prime Minister Najib Razak's faction, ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad's and ex-Trade minister Rafidah Aziz's.

She blew back into the local scene after a hiatus of several years during the Kerdau and Merliamu by-elections and began to attack Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, in a bid to create voter disgust for his party and the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

There is speculation that she was persuaded to give up the current case on the bidding of several Umno stalwarts, who fear she might malign and tar the party rather than Azman or Anwar with her latest suit.

MORE TO COME

- Malaysia Chronicle