KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court will decide today whether former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak can withdraw his defamation suit against former Batu member of parliament Tony Pua.
The case is over Pua’s statements regarding Najib and the Pas private member’s bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965.
The court had heard arguments from Najib’s lawyer Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun and Pua’s counsel Tan Ch’eng Leong on Thursday and set today for decision.
Should the court strike out Najib’s application to withdraw the suit, it will have to go to trial.
Pua had objected to Najib’s application to withdraw the suit, saying that it would be prejudicial to him as he would not be able to explain his statements on the bill made in the lobby of Parliament in April last year.
Meanwhile, in George Town, the on-going graft case involving Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and businesswoman Phang Li Koon will resume.
Today’s proceedings will see the court being informed of the decision of the representations the duo had made to the Attorney-General’s Chambers for the cases against them to be dropped.
The duo had been granted a postponement of the proceedings to allow them to make the representations to the new Attorney-General, Tommy Thomas.
On June 30, Lim had claimed trial to two charges of corruption regarding the change of status on a parcel of land from agricultural to housing, as well as the purchase of a bungalow in Jalan Pinhorn for below market price.
Phang, meanwhile, was charged for abetting Lim in the purchase of the bungalow.
Yet another politician who will see himself in court today, this time at the magistrates court in Ampang, is Sungai Besar Umno chief Datuk Seri Jamal Md Yunos.
Jamal’s trial for allegedly fleeing police custody will begin today, with the Red Shirt leader being brought from Sungai Buloh prison for the case, having been denied bail when he was charged on July 5.
He was alleged to have committed the offence at the Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital between 2pm and 3pm on May 25 before having completed the bail process for a charge of committing public nuisance.
He had been charged in the hospital then as he had been receiving treatment there.
After skipping bail, Jamal had fled the country to Indonesia. He was arrested on July 2 in Jakarta by Indonesian police before being extradited back to Malaysia three days later.
