KUALA LUMPUR: Red Shirts leader Jamal Yunos made a last-minute attempt today to stop the defamation suit against him by Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok over allegations of abuse of state funds from proceeding to a full hearing.
Lawyer SN Nair, representing Kok, told High Court judge Ahmad Bache that they received an 11th hour application to strike out her suit last Thursday.
The trial was scheduled for today and tomorrow. Jamal, however, was a no-show at court.
His lawyer V Mugunthan said Jamal is unwell and on medical leave.
Mugunthan also said they wished to annul the suit on grounds that there was no outcome from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigations into Kok regarding claims that she and other DAP leaders misappropriated welfare funds from Yayasan Warisan Anak Selangor (Yawas).
“We say that the lawsuit is premature,” said Mugunthan, who also sought a court order for the trial to be halted pending the hearing of their striking-out application.
However, Nair said Kok had not been charged in court over the allegations for the past two years, and that “this does not stop her from filing the suit”.
He also told the court that MACC is not required by law to provide the outcome of its investigations.
Ahmad said from his experience as a former MACC officer, the commission does not always provide a response on the outcome of investigations.
“I am allowing the lawyers for the minister to file an affidavit to respond to Jamal’s striking-out application,” he said.
“I have to hear this application before I can proceed with the trial.”
In the meantime, he told Jamal and Kok to try and work out a settlement.
The court set June 19 as the tentative date to hear Jamal’s bid to stop the suit pending MACC’s response.
Jamal previously failed to settle the lawsuits by Kok and Science, Climate Change and Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin.
Speaking to reporters outside the court, Kok criticised Jamal’s move to postpone the case.
“When I filed this suit in 2017, he said he welcomed my lawsuit against him.
“Today he has disappeared, and he is wasting all of our time,” she added.
In her lawsuit, Kok claimed Jamal’s statements had tarnished her reputation as a senior politician in DAP and painted her as a corrupt person.
“The accusations by Jamal were baseless as I did not abuse my powers to obtain funds from Yawas,” she said in her statement of claim.
She sought general, aggravated and exemplary damages as well as an injunction against Jamal from publicising further defamatory statements.
Jamal alleged in 2017 that politicians from Kuala Lumpur and Selangor had taken funds meant for welfare aid from Yawas instead of disbursing the money to eligible recipients. -FMT
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