Zahid’s defamation trial against Mahathir postponed
Published on: Friday, November 03, 2023
By: FMT
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is suing Dr Mahathir Mohamad over comments the latter made at a press conference held on Feb 23 last year.
Kuala Lumpur: The much anticipated four-day defamation trial involving deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, scheduled to take place over four days next week, has been postponed.
Zahid, the plaintiff in the suit, had been expected to take the witness stand as the first witness and to be cross-examined.
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He had filed the suit after Mahathir claimed Zahid had sought his assistance to have corruption charges he was facing “dropped”.
Mahathir’s lawyer, Mior Nor Haidir Suhaimi, said the court’s e-filing system now listed the matter for case management.
“We have informed the defendant (Mahathir) not to attend the court proceeding. As counsel to the defendant I am not at liberty to reveal more,” Mior told FMT.
Zahid’s lawyers were not available for a response.
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FMT understands that the trial date was vacated as no judge had been assigned to replace Justice Rozana Ali Yusoff, who was transferred to Penang two months ago.
At a press conference held on Feb 23 last year, Mahathir claimed Zahid and several others had met him at his home immediately after the 14th general election in 2018.
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He is alleged to have said Zahid wanted to be “friendly” with him before Mahathir became the prime minister for a second time in May 2018.
Zahid claimed Mahathir’s remarks were untrue, unwarranted, unsubstantiated and mischievous.
Mahathir, in his defence, has stood by his remarks and is relying on the defence of justification.
In September, Mahathir’s own suit against Zahid over the latter’s allegedly derogatory use of the name “Kutty” to refer to the former was also postponed.
Rozana had been scheduled to hear that case over four days beginning Sept 11.
The hearing has now been rescheduled to run from Feb 13 to 16 next year.
In his statement of claim, Mahathir alleged that Zahid had defamed him during an Umno divisional meeting in Kelana Jaya on July 30, 2017.
Mahathir claims the statement was meant to imply that he was not born a Malay or a Muslim, and that his original name was “Mahathir son of Iskandar Kutty”.
In his defence, Zahid said the name “Mahathir son of Iskandar Kutty” referred to an individual based on information from an old copy of an identity card.
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