KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today directed Lim Guan Eng, his son Clint as well as controversial blogger Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, better known as Papagomo, to file witness statements a month before the defamation suit trial involving the trio begins in August.
Guan Eng and his son's lawyer, Kok Yuen Lin, said the witness statements must be filed by July 12.
"The last case management, by the way of e-review, is on July 15. The trial is presently scheduled from Aug 12 to 16," she told the New Straits Times.
She said this after case management which was conducted virtually before senior assistant registrar Haslinda A. Raof.
The case management was attended by Kok and Wan Azri's counsel, Norfazilah Jaafar.
On Oct 15, 2020, plaintiffs Guan Eng and Clint filed a suit claiming that Wan Azri, as the defendant, had posted on his Facebook page an alleged defamatory statement that Clint was hauled up at the Singapore Changi Airport on Feb 29 the same year for bringing in RM2 million cash without proper declaration.
Father and son claimed that Wan Azri's statement was a lie and a twist of facts because Clint was not even at the airport on the date and time stated in the statement.
In the statement, Wan Azri had also claimed that Guan Eng flew to Singapore on the same day to settle the matter using his influence so that his son would not be detained.
Guan Eng, a former Penang chief minister, said he did not even fly to Singapore that day.
He said he needed to be in Malaysia due to the political crisis after former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepped down.
Guan Eng and son said the defamatory statement had tarnished their reputations and sought special, general, aggravated and exemplary damages as well as costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.
They contended that at all material times, Wan Azri was the owner of Facebook account "Papa Azri".
In May 2021, Guan Eng and son filed interrogatories via law firm Simon Murali & Co pursuant to Wan Muhammad Azri's denial that he was the blogger known as Papagomo.