THE Kuala Lumpur High Court today ordered freelance preacher Ahmad Dusuki Abd Rani to file his statement of defence by October 20 to a lawsuit brought by Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

The Lembah Pantai MP as the plaintiff filed a suit against Dusuki on September 5 for allegedly accusing the former of giving a political speech at a mosque in Rawang, Selangor.

Lawyer Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi, representing Fahmi, said the court ordered the plaintiff to file a reply to defence before or on November 17, and fixed November 27 for case management.

“The writ and statement of claim have been served on the defendant (Dusuki), and a memorandum of appearance has been filed by the defendant through his lawyer from Messrs Srihana Mohamad & Partners,” Asheeq Ali said when contacted after the case management via e-review before senior assistant registrar Nur Shasha Hidayah Nor Azahar today.

Regarding another lawsuit filed against the owner of the Facebook account “N13 Kuang”, Mohd Fauzan Madzlan, over the same issue, Asheeq Ali said the court has fixed October 31 for further case management.

“We are still in the process of submitting the writ and statement of claim against the defendant (Fauzan),” said the lawyer.

In the statement of claim, Fahmi said the two defendants published defamatory words by accusing him of abusing a place of worship to campaign for an election, acting contrary to the orders of the Selangor sultan.

Fahmi claimed the defamatory words were posted on Fauzan’s Facebook account and Dusuki’s Facebook and Instagram accounts on July 31.

Fahmi said the slanderous statements were baseless and the Selangor Islamic Religious Council confirmed he did not give any political speech as alleged by the defendants.

He also said the duo’s statements were made to defame his good name for cheap publicity, as well as to tarnish his reputation as an MP and cabinet member. – Bernama, October 5, 2023.