KUALA LUMPUR: Sungai Besar Umno Division chief Datuk Seri Jamal Md Yunos failed to set aside a defamation suit filed by former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin over a statement made during a press conference at the Umno General Assembly in January two years ago.
The impugned statement was made during a press conference regarding claims that Umno imported delegates from outside who were not representatives to vote on the motion that the number one and two posts not be contested.
Khairy's lawyer Shakeel Saifuzzaman said the High Court dismissed Jamal's application to quash the lawsuit on the grounds that there are issues to be discussed.
"The defendant's (Jamal) application to dismiss the suit and my client's statement of claim was dismissed with costs."
"Judicial commissioner Dr Suzana Muhamad Said fixed May 27 for the next case management while the trial expected to commence in 2026," he said.
Khairy filed the writ of summons on May 24, last year, through legal firm Messrs Aizat Izuan Shakeel, claiming for special damages of RM1 million, general damages, and an order for Jamal to publish an apology on social media platforms Facebook and TikTok as well as in major Malay, English and Chinese dailies.
In the statement of claim, Khairy said that during the Umno General Assembly on Jan 14 last year, Jamal held a press conference at the World Trade Centre (WTC) in Kuala Lumpur which was attended by media practitioners and Umno delegates as well as a few party leaders and members.
Khairy said that on the same day, Jamal, through his Facebook account under the name "DS Jamal Yunos (DS Jamal Yunos Official)" had uploaded a video recording entitled "Saya harap Khairy Jamaluddin dikenakan tindakan oleh Lembaga Disiplin Umno selepas mengeluarkan kenyataan yang somborono dan memalukan Umno #UmnoDuluKiniDanSelamanya" (I hope that the Umno Disciplinary Board takes action against Khairy Jamaluddin for issuing statements that embarrass Umno #UmnoThenNowAndForever).
He said that Jamal also uploaded a recording via the same social media account on TikTok under the username "jamal_yunos."
Khairy pointed out that the statement was slanderous and insinuated that he was a leader without integrity, an individual who had no credibility to lead and someone who was involved in corruption.
He added that it also implied that he implemented and applied corrupt approaches to insight division among party members for personal vested interests and was not worthy to be a leader as well as not having loyalty to the party and the party's leadership.
