A THREE-DAY hearing of the defamation lawsuit filed by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim against former Kuala Terengganu MP Ahmad Amzad Hashim will take place from April 23 next year at the Kuala Terengganu High Court.

The lawsuit was filed over Amzad’s alleged defamatory statement that Anwar lied when he said he only received a salary of RM1 when he was the Selangor economic adviser.

Anwar’s lawyer, S.N. Nair, said the hearing dates of judge Hassan Abdul Ghani fixed the hearing dates of April 23, 24 and 25  during case management yesterday.

“The court has ordered both parties to submit their witness statements by April 11, 2024, at the latest,” he said when contacted here.

In the statement of claim filed on December 22 last year, Anwar, who is also PKR president, claimed that Amzad had made several statements to a group of customers while dining at a restaurant on December 7.

Anwar claimed the statements implied, among other things, that he was untrustworthy and dishonest about receiving millions of ringgit from the Selangor government when he was its economic adviser.

It also implied he deceived the public by stating that he received a salary of RM1 as an economic adviser, committed a criminal offence and betrayed the people’s mandate.

Anwar claimed that the slanderous statements were false, malicious and disparaging, adding that he was highly respected nationally and internationally as someone who was against corruption.

He also denounced the allegations as politically motivated.

On June 27, the Kuala Terengganu Election Court annulled Amzad’s win in the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat in the general election last year, after finding that the petitioner, Mohd Zubir Embong of Barisan Nasional had succeeded in proving that corruption had taken place with the aim of influencing voters in the polls then. – Bernama, July 13, 2023.