Ismail Sabri’s defamation suit against Lokman Adam may settle without trial, says lawyer
A defamation suit brought by former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob against the former Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam may be settled without a trial.
Lawyer Joshua Tan, who appeared for Ismail Sabri, confirmed the matter when contacted by media after the case was mentioned in chambers yesterday before High Court Judge Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh.
“Today’s case (an inter-parte hearing) was postponed to Jan 5, 2023. There may be a potential settlement of the matter,” said Joshua briefly.
Lokman’s lawyer S. Suresh said the same when contacted.
On Sept 12, Ismail Sabri obtained an ex-parte injunction against Lokman for the latter to immediately delete all videos on his social media accounts that allegedly defamed the then prime minister.
Ismail Sabri, 62, as the plaintiff filed the suit in his personal capacity on Sept 8, naming Lokman, 49, as the sole defendant.
In his statement of claim, Ismail Sabri stated that Lokman had on Aug 22 made defamatory statements against him in a video, with the title ‘Bila Presiden Umno Panggil Tak Datang! Tapi PM Ada Masa Jumpa Mahathir — Lokman Adam’ (When Called by UMNO President, He Doesn’t Come! But the PM Has Time to See Mahathir - Lokman Adam).
He claimed that the malicious, defamatory and untrue statements were uploaded on four social media accounts belonging to the defendant, namely ‘Lokman Adam’ channel on YouTube, ‘Lokman Noor Adam Official’ on Facebook, ‘lokmanooradam’ on Instagram, and ‘datoklokmanadam’ on TikTok.
According to Ismail Sabri, the words meant, among other things, that he had met with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and planned or intended to plan with the former prime minister and other opposition political parties to remain as prime minister by turning his back and betraying Umno.
Ismail Sabri also claimed that he had never met with Dr Mahathir and other political parties for the purpose nor was engaged in unprincipled measures to prevent the dissolution of Parliament for a general election to be held so that he could remain as prime minister.
On Sept 1, Lokman pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court to two charges of making and initiating offensive communications against Ismail Sabri and the government through a Facebook application under the profile name ‘Lokman Noor Adam Official’.