KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has filed a defamation suit against Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor over a statement the latter made during a 15th General Election (GE15) ceramah in Tambun.
Anwar, through his solicitors SN Nair & Partners, filed the suit at the Alor Star High Court today around 4.30pm and named Sanusi as the defendant.
Based on the writ of demands, Anwar claimed that the Kedah Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman, on Nov 13, had given a ceramah in support of the coalition's Tambun parliamentary candidate Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, which was attended by tens of thousands of supporters.
Sanusi, in the speech, had allegedly claimed that Anwar is a fraud, untrustworthy and unethical and had betrayed the people's mandate.
The PN chairman also claimed that Anwar's full pardon by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was not obtained according to protocol and procedures and that Anwar was a criminal who had committed an offence which remains on record.
Sanusi, in making the speech, also claimed that Anwar is "out of akhlak", and that he is not a good Muslim.
Recordings of Sanusi's speech were uploaded on a Facebook page under the "Faizal Azumu" account, where it had garnered over 88,000 views to date.
These speeches were reported in both Bahasa Malaysia and English by MalaysiaKini on Nov 14.
Anwar had, on Nov 16, demanded Sanusi withdraw the statement, issue an apology as well as promise to not repeat the slanderous statements, as well as to make monetary compensation for the damages done by the statement.
However, Sanusi, through his lawyers, had replied to Anwar's statement of claim on Dec 7, where he had expressed an unequivocal acknowledgement of the facts said in that speech.
Anwar, in the writ of demand, claimed that he had been humiliated and ridiculed by the community, following these statements.
He also claimed that the speeches caused him to suffer from anxiety, mental stress and extreme humiliation and that it tainted his good reputation as the prime minister, finance minister, Tambun member of parliament, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president and Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman.
Anwar is seeking compensation on general, severe and exemplary damages, as well as an injunctive order to restrain the defendant from further disclosing, composing or publishing similar statements against him.
He is also seeking for the defendant to pay five per cent per year on the sum of the judgment, from the date of accrual of action until the date of full settlement, costs of a solicitor and client basis, as well as other reliefs that the court deems fair and appropriate.