Latheefa Koya (left) and Surendran of Parti Keadilan Rakyat. The Malaysian Insider pic, December 6, 2013.Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia is seeking to remove lawyer N. Surendran from representing opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in a lawsuit.
Anwar had sued Utusan and another Umno-mouthpiece TV3 in March over their report that he orchestrated the Lahad Datu incursion in Sabah earlier this year.
"Lawyers for Utusan informed the court today they have filed an application to disqualify Surendran from acting as counsel for Anwar due to a conflict of interest," said lawyer Latheefa Koya in a statement today.
Surendran was also suspended for six months from Parliament last month for insulting Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.
Anwar's RM100 million defamation suit also includes Utusan editor Datuk Abdul Aziz Ishak, TV3 group managing editor Datuk Shahruddin Abdul Latif and Buletin Utama editor Ing Boon Seng.
Both media outlets had picked up a news report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer citing an allegation that an unnamed individual allied to Anwar had given support to the Sulu rebels' claim on Sabah.
Utusan also cited a February 14 report from newswire Reuters, in which an anonymous Philippine military officer reportedly said a Malaysian opposition politician had invited the Sulu men to discuss land matters.
However, according to Latheefa, neither Reuters nor the Philippine Daily Inquirer had specified Anwar as the individual involved.
"Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will strongly resist this application to remove Surendran as his lawyer in this case," added Latheefa.
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