PKR lawmaker Hassan Karim has outlined several possible defences for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in his impending legal tussle with Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Hassan (above) also underscored that in defamation cases, the burden of proof lies with the plaintiff, in other words, the former prime minister.
Since Mahathir has not filed the suit, the Pasir Gudang MP said the matter could be discussed without fear of committing sub judice.
“Mahathir must prove to the court that Anwar’s speech, which he claims had defamed him, was in reference to him, Mahathir Mohamad, and not someone else.
“Following this, Mahathir must prove before the judge that the words Anwar uttered were slanderous and defamatory in nature.
“After this, Mahathir must prove that Anwar had ill intentions when uttering those words,” he added in a statement this afternoon.
Defence
As for Anwar, the lawyer-turned-politician said the defences included proving that his remark that “someone who was in power for 22 years and 22 months had amassed wealth” is factual.
“The second defence is that what was raised is of public interest. The third is that what Anwar said is fair comment. The fourth is that there was no malice in making those remarks.
“The final defence is Anwar, as prime minister, might be accorded privilege, including qualified privilege,” he added.
In conclusion, Hassan said the legal battle between the two political adversaries would be interesting.
“It appears that Malaysian politics is still within the realm of civilised politics without the need to resort to taking up arms when disputes arise like in Sudan.
“Feuding politicians in Malaysia can still resolve their differences in courts,” he added.
Mahathir and Anwar have been trading barbs since 1998, when the former sacked the latter as his number two but this is the first time the pair would be locking horns in court.
Mahathir, who has instructed his lawyers to commence the legal action, said he could no longer ignore Anwar’s attacks because the latter is now the prime minister.
Before this, Mahathir said he turned a deaf ear because he considered it to be the “actions of someone who was desperate to be the prime minister”. - Mkini
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