THE Kuala Lumpur High Court today postponed the hearing of the defamation suit filed by Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah against Red Shirts leader Jamal Md Yunos.

Lawyer N. Surendran, representing Maria, said the judge postponed the trial to January 15 to 19 because of another important case.

“There is a priority case. That’s why the judge postponed it. We have taken the dates the court has given for next year,” he said outside the courtroom.

Maria is suing Jamal for allegedly linking the electoral watchdog with the Islamic State militant group.

She said she was comfortable with the dates set by the court and looked forward to the trial.

“The reason for the case is not about Red and Yellow. It is for Bersih to clear our name and address all the allegations against us, which are false.

“The agenda of Bersih is ensuring clean and fair elections, and democracy for our future.

“That’s the only agenda we have – that we are against violence and threats made against the people.”

Surendran said Maria filed the suit over claims that Bersih had been “penetrated” by IS and that they were going to surround strategic places like airports.

“Maria is suing because she said the claims are false.”

He added that a subpoena had been issued for jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to attend court.

“The ‘Order to Produce’ is not ready, but the prison brought him today. It’s just about sorting out the paperwork issue.”

Lawyer Mohamed Nasser Yusof, representing Jamal, said they had sent out subpoenas to individuals to assist in the case.

“A subpoena has been sent to Dr Mahathir Mohamad because he had made statements that Bersih is a violent organisation.

“We also want to know why Dr Mahathir had Maria’s husband arrested under the Internal Security Act in 1987. It turns out that he (Maria’s husband) was a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

“This is quite relevant because in our case, there are links to IS.

“Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun, too, because he is former Special Branch director, as well as former inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar, because he was in charge during the Bersih rally.

“And also, Kuala Selangor police chief Superintendent Ruslan Abdullah, because of the scuffle that broke out between Yellow and Red last year.”

He said the other two witnesses in the case are lawyer Hassan Karin, from Pontian, and Jamal.

When asked about the suit against him, Jamal said it was Maria’s right to sue him.

“I also have the right to protect myself. When I saw Bersih, being a civil society organisation, harassing people to come to Kuala Lumpur and gather in large crowds… this shows that she had misused the Peaceful Assembly Act.

“That’s why I also have the right to tell the people to go against Bersih. This responsibility has been given to us by civil society organisation members.

“I also want to ask Maria when Bersih 5 will be held so we can meet again.” – October 9, 2017.