Najib gets further extension of interim injunction against Pua
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court yesterday extended further the period of the interim injunction granted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to prevent Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua Kiam Wee from continuing to slander him in a video clip uploaded on Facebook.
Counsel Gobind Singh Deo, who represented Pua, said the period of the injunction was extended until the court decided on an inter-parte injunction application by the two sides on Aug 4.
He spoke to reporters after the two sides presented their arguments in chambers before Judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab yesterday. Counsel Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun represented the Prime Minister.
Mohd Hafarizam said the two sides presented their arguments and clarifications pertaining to the issues raised by the counsel for Pua.
On April 21, the court allowed Najib’s application for an ex-parte injunction to restrain Pua, as the defendant, from publishing similar or the same words as found in the defendant’s statement.
Najib applied for the ex- parte injunction based on fears the slanderous statement could affect him in his capacity as the Prime Minister and Finance Minister as well as the leader of a political party.
On April 21, Najib filed a suit in his personal capacity against Pua over the slanderous allegations he had made in a live video on the tabling of a Private Member’s Bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 or RUU355.
In his statement of claim, Najib, as the plaintiff, accused Pua of making the statement at the lobby of Parliament House on April 6, and which was recorded and uploaded by the defendant or his agents on his (Pua’s) official Facebook page.
The plaintiff also alleged that the video clip, lasting two minutes and 21 seconds and entitled “BN Govt abandons all Bills to give precedence to PAS RUU355 Private Member’s Bill”, could be accessed widely and easily on the Internet.
Najib also claimed that the live video contained words referring specifically to him and conveyed the meaning that he abused his power by giving orders through the Cabinet to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker to allow the MP for Marang to table his private bill and to set aside other bills.
Najib is seeking general , aggravatedandexemplarydamages and an injunction to restrain the defendant or his agents in whatever way from further publishing the slander against him, and had applied for an order for Pua to withdraw the live video clip from his Facebook page immediately. — Bernama