ALOR STAR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been granted an ex-parte interim injunction against caretaker Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor at High Court, here.
The order restrains Sanusi from uttering, repeating and publishing statements relating to Anwar's defamation suit filed against him, on any platform, until after the trial or any further court order.
This includes restraining Sanusi from uttering, repeating and publishing statements at any ceramah, event, interview, posting or publication in the media against Anwar.
Anwar's lawyer Datuk Sankara Nair confirmed the gag order, issued on Sunday, saying that it was granted by High Court judge Mahazan Mat Taib.
He said the judge also ordered Sanusi to abide by the ex-parte injunction order immediately.
Sankara also confirmed that the sealed order had been served to Sanusi's solicitors at 12.30pm today.
He said the application for the injunction, which was filed on July 26, came after Sanusi's speeches made on two separate occasions at "Jelajah PN Best Negri Sembilan" in Nilai, on March 18 and "Jelajah Selangor Baharu-Selayang" in Selayang, on July 11 this year.
"In the event Sanusi commits a breach of the terms of the injunction, it would be amounting to contempt of court and he will be subjected to committal proceedings and liable to damages.
"Sanusi is therefore given a stern warning to abide by the terms of the injunction or else he shall swiftly face all legal consequences," he said.
Anwar filed a defamation suit against Sanusi on Dec 13 last year, over the latter's statement made during a 15th General Election (GE15) ceramah in Tambun, Perak, last year.
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 was a fraud, untrustworthy and unethical and had betrayed the people's mandate.
Anwar, in his suit, is seeking for 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.