KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 – Senator Datuk S. Nallakaruppan(Pic) intends to subpoena senior lawyer Karpal Singh, businesswoman Ummi Hafilda Ali and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s former driver Azizan Abu Bakar to appear as witnesses on his behalf in the defamation suit initiated by the opposition leader (Anwar) over defamatory remarks made in 2008.
Nallakaruppan’s lead defence counsel Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said Karpal would be a “useful and helpful” witness in relation to what the member of parliament said in parliament over Azizan and Umi’s disclosure to him during two meetings with him on Oct 22 and Dec 18 over the first sodomy incident involving him (Azizan) and Anwar.
“Based on the Hansard recording, Karpal had told parliament that he was impressed with Azizan’s disclosure supported by a statutory declaration where he implicated Anwar and later became a subject matter of sodomy in court trial,” Shafee told a press conference at the court complex, here.
Shafee described Karpal as an important parliamentarian with high credibility, where his testimony was crucial for the defendant (Nallakaruppan) to collaborate it with Azizan’s disclosure of the incident.
“Even Karpal in 2007 also invited Anwar to file a defamation suit against Azizan and Umi on this matter,” he said.
Asked whether he already obtained the subpoena, Shafee said the premilinary issue on the suit was still pending at the Court of Appeal (COA) and he would be making the application once the court set the dates for trial of the suit. On March 26, 2008, Anwar filed the suit alleging that Nallakaruppan had uttered defamatory words against him which were then published on the front page of the Utusan Malaysia daily on March 20, 2008.
In his statement of claim, Anwar said the defamatory words included in the article were false, baseless, was published with ill intention and had tarnished his good name. Anwar is seeking RM100 million in general, aggravated and exemplary damages, cost and other relief deemed fit by the court.
BERNAMA
