THE Federal Court has reserved its verdict on lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s appeal over his defamation suit against the Malaysian Bar and two others relating to his conduct as the deputy public prosecutor (DPP) in Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II case.

The two other respondents are former Attorney-General Tommy Thomas and former Court of Appeal judge V.C. George.

Federal Court Judge and Court of Appeal President Rohana Yusuf, who led a panel of three judges, reserved the panel’s ruling after hearing submissions from both sides in a proceeding conducted virtually through the Zoom application.

The two other presiding Federal Court judges are Vernon Ong Lam Kiat and Abdul Rahman Sebli.

On May 26, 2016, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed a defamation suit filed by Shafee against the respondents. 

The Court of Appeal on October 11, 2018 rejected Shafee’s appeal and upheld the High Court’s decision. 

On August 19, 2020, the Federal Court granted leave to Shafee to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision.

During today’s proceeding, the court heard submissions from lawyers Ambiga Sreenevasan, who acted for Thomas; Porres Royan, who acted for George; and Lambert Rasa-Ratnam, who acted for the Bar. 

Meanwhile, Shafee represented himself in the appeal. 

In the defamation suit, which was filed in March 2015, Shafee claimed that on February 28, 2015, Thomas had defamed him by submitting a motion for the Malaysian Bar Annual General Meeting on March 14, 2015. The motion was seconded by George.

The motion pertains to Shafee’s conduct as the DPP in Anwar’s sodomy appeal in the Federal Court. It claimed that Shafee had violated the legal profession publication rules, which regulates how lawyers advertise themselves.

The motion also alleged that Shafee participated in nationwide roadshows with the purpose of insulting a convicted prisoner and for drawing attention to his prowess as a DPP in Anwar’s conviction.

On February 10, 2015, the Federal Court affirmed Anwar’s conviction of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan and sentenced him to five years in jail. Anwar, however, was given full pardon by the King on May 16, 2018.

In his statement of claim, Shafee sought, among other things, a declaration that the motion was made in bad faith and was intended to embarrass him. – Bernama, August 6, 2021.