The High Court in Kuala Lumpur has allowed Anwar Ibrahim's application to strike out certain paragraphs in Utusan Malaysia's defence in a defamation suit brought by the PKR de facto leader.
The expunged paragraphs were about Anwar's conviction on corruption charges by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur in 1999 and the Sodomy II conviction by the Federal Court in 2015 , which Utusan cited to justify its report against the former opposition leader.
Justice John Louis O'Hara made the decision based on the argument that criminal case convictions should not be raised in a civil proceeding.
"Evidence of previous convictions should be inadmissible (in this defamation trial); it is necessary to strike out (these paragraphs)," said O'Hara.
The judge has cited the case of Anwar versus and former PKR man S Nallakaruppan, where the Court of Appeal had ruled that previous conviction should not be considered as a factor.
Utusan was ordered to pay RM2,500 in costs.
On Jan 7, Anwar sought to strike out three paragraphs of Utusan’s defence that cited Anwar's convictions.
Anwar had sued ex-BN Permatang candidate Dr Mazlan Ismail, Sistem Televisyen Malaysia (TV3) and Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd for defaming him.
Mazlan was sued for claiming that Anwar had bribed judges and prosecutors, while both TV3 and Utusan were sued for republishing Mazlan's remark.
Utusan's lawyer Azhar Arman Ali said he would seek his client's advice on whether to file an appeal.
Azhar had earlier argued that it was general knowledge that Anwar was guilty of corruption and sodomy.
Anwar was represented by Sangeet Kaur Deo.
The court has fixed July 26 for case management. - Mkini
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