FORMER finance minister Lim Guan Eng will testify in the Kuala Lumpur High Court on February 22 next year in proceedings to assess damages in his defamation suit against blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, over allegations of corruption in the RM6.3 billion Penang undersea tunnel project.

Lim’s lawyer, K. Simon Murali, said the hearing would be before judge Rohani Ismail.

“The new hearing date was set today during online proceedings by deputy registrar Dalwinder Singh. Lim will testify as a witness on that day,” he said when contacted.

On February 28 this year, Lim, who is also former Penang chief minister, obtained a judgment-in-default against Raja Petra as the blogger did not contest the suit.

Lim filed the suit on September 6 last year over a series of “From the MACC Files” articles, in both English and Bahasa Malaysia, carried on Raja Petra’s blog, Malaysia Today, between February 24 and March 15, 2019.

The purported defamatory articles relate to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) probe into alleged corruption in the infrastructure project.

Lim had sought exemplary damages on grounds that Raja Petra had profited from the huge volume of readership on all the articles.

He had also, among others, sought a front page apology, and an injunction to prevent the blogger from repeating his allegations.

The DAP secretary-general filed an application for a judgment-in-default after the blogger failed to respond to the notice of the suit that Lim placed in three newspapers this year.

The Bagan MP had also attempted to serve the writ and statement of claim to Raja Petra by personal service at the blogger’s last known address, which was obtained from the National Registration Department and the Election Commission.

Lim was, however, unsuccessful. – Bernama, November 23, 2020.