KJ's appeal on his 'main belakang' remark gets June date

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin's application for leave to appeal to the Federal Court the order for him to pay RM150,000 in damages and RM60,000 as costs to Anwar Ibrahim for a remark he made in Lembah Pantai 10 years ago will be heard on June 19.

The date was decided during case management at the Federal Court today, Anwar's lawyer J Leela confirmed.

Anwar is due to be released from the Sungai Buloh Prison, where he was sent off on a five-year jail term after a sodomy conviction, on June 18.

It is understood that Khairy's lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, had posed three questions of law with the application for leave. The questions touch on the proper way to file a notice of appeal.

Last February, a three-member bench at the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, dismissed Khairy's appeal after ruling that the notice of appeal filed by Shafee was "ambiguous and defective".

Last September, High Court judge Azizul Azmi Adnan ruled that Khairy, who is also Umno Youth chief, had defamedAnwar with the "main belakang" (playing from behind) remark at a ceramah in Lembah Pantai in 2008, just before the 12th general election.

"I am of the view that the words uttered by the defendant (Khairy) are defamatory of the plaintiff, within the reasonable and ordinary meaning to members of the public.

“The general damages to be charged is four percent interest from Feb 19, 2008, the date of the incident,” the judge ruled.

However, Justice Azizul did not grant aggravated damages as he ruled out malice. - Mkini