Court to decide March 6 whether to strike out defence statement
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has fixed March 6 for a decision on an application by Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad to strike out the defence statement by Gerakan Muslimah chief Wan Asshima Kamaruddin.
This is in connection with a suit over allegations that Khalid had approved a purported gay festival here.
Khalid’s lawyer Muhammad Rafiqree Hamka said the application was made on grounds that the arguments used by the defence in the statement were frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the court’s process.
“The court has also ordered for parties to file a reply any time before March 6 if there is any,” he said after the matter came up for case management before judge Nik Hasmat Nik Mohamad yesterday.
Counsel Wan Rohimi Wan Daud, who represented Wan Asshima, said the crux of the defence was that since the gay festival was carried out along with an online promotion, the Federal Territories Ministry and Kuala Lumpur City Hall seemed to have kept quiet about it, which indirectly showed that they were allowing it.
Khalid had filed the suit against Wan Asshima claiming that the latter recorded a video which contained defamatory remarks against him and uploaded it on her Facebook page.
Khalid said the defendant had on Aug 18, last year, intentionally recorded and published a video which contained defamatory remarks against him.
He claimed that the video directly referred to him as his name and position were specifically mentioned in the video.
The plaintiff alleged that the defamatory remarks had meant that he, as the Federal Territories minister, had authorised the LGBT community in Malaysia and protected the rights of the community by successfully organising and approving the biggest gay festival in Malaysia in conjunction with the Merdeka celebration.
Khalid also claimed that the recording had stated that he had in his capacity as a minister, an Amanah leader and as an individual, violated Muslims’ rights, the law and Islamic regulations as ascribed in the Quran and Sunnah, and thus insulted Islam when he approved the gay festival.
He alleged that due to the publishing of the defamatory words, he had suffered embarrassment, disgrace and misery and his reputation had been tarnished.
Khalid claimed that the allegation published by the defendant was intentional, baseless and made with malice. Khalid is seeking an order from the court for the defendant to publish an apology through a video to be uploaded on her Facebook page as well as a written apology to be published in Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian within 48 hours of the date of the order.
He is also seeking an injunction to prohibit the defendant in any way from publishing or printing defamatory words against him, as well as exemplary and aggravated damages.