Utusan ordered to pay RM200,000 to Anwar Ibrahim
By HIDIR REDUAN | New Straits Times
KUALA LUMPUR: Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd and its editor-in-chief were ordered to pay RM200,000 in damages to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim over two articles related to his comments on homosexuality laws.
The High Court made the ruling today, two years after the defamation suit was won by Anwar, 68, the former opposition leader who accused Utusan Melayu and co-defendant Datuk Abdul Aziz Ishak of defaming him in the write-ups over comments made during a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) interview.
Judge Datuk Hue Siew Kheng ordered both Utusan Melayu, which publishes broadsheet Utusan Malaysia, and Aziz to pay RM100,000 in general damages and RM100,000 in aggravated damages to Anwar. Hue also ordered them to bear RM8,000 in costs and five per cent interest on the damages.
After the open court proceedings today, counsel Muhammad Asmirul Asraf Fadli said he would seek instructions from his clients, Utusan Melayu and Aziz, on whether to appeal.
Counsel N. Surendran and Latheefa Koya acted for Anwar, who in court was seen waving to supporters who included his wife Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is current opposition leader, and Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali.
He was later escorted back to Sungai Buloh Prison where he is currently serving five-year jail term for sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 30, in 2008.
In January 2013, the High Court ruled in favour of Anwar in the defamation suit. However, assessment of damages was put off to another date.
On March 7 last year, the Court of Appeal reversed Anwar's acquittal of sodomising Saiful and handed out the five-year jail sentence. The Federal Court maintained the conviction and sentence on Feb 10.
.jpg)
