Najib, Rosmah withdraw suit against Rafizi, publisher

KUALA LUMPUR: Another lawsuit by embattled former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor has been withdrawn at the High Court here today with RM20,000 cost.
Najib has withdrawn several lawsuits, this time it is against PKR vice-president Mohd Rafizi Ramli and publisher Chan Chee Kong over an oil subsidy issue.
"Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and his wife have withdrawn their suit against Rafizi Ramli and Chan Chee Kong with cost of RM10,000 each. The court has ordered the cost to be paid within 14 days," lawyer Ranjit Singh, who represented Rafizi, told reporters.
Ranjit and Najib's lawyer Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun met in the chambers of Judicial Commissioner Ismail and came to the agreement.
Chan, the mediarakyat.net publisher, represented by lawyer Joanne Leong.
Najib and Rosmah sued Rafizi and portal owner Chan Chee Keong in 2015 for allegedly defaming them, as the Rafizi's statement implied that Najib had unlawfully stolen the people's money in connection with the oil subsidy removal.
Rosmah claimed the former Pandan MP had suggested that she unlawfully benefited from the money.
The couple also claimed Chan had failed to exercise responsible journalism to verify the claims before publishing a video.
This is the fifth suit Najib has withdrawn after withdrawing defamation suits against Harakah and Harakahdaily, Damansara MP Tony Pua, former MCA president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and news portal Mkini Sdn Bhd.
The suits were mostly against allegations of misuse of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds.
Meanwhile, Hafarizam said he would appear for Umno for four election petitions filed over parliamentary seats of Cameron Highlands in Pahang and Jempol in Negri Sembilan as well as state constituency seats of Telok Mas in Malacca and Rantau in Negri Sembilan.
Malacca Umno had filed an election petition last Monday to challenge the outcome of the 14th General Election (GE14) in Telok Mas.
PKR-Bersatu candidate Noor Effandi Ahmad won the Telok Mas state seat with a majority of 1,288 votes.
Pakatan Harapan's Jempol candidate Kamarulzaman Kamdias, who lost the seat by 1,631 votes, filed a petition against the EC while in Cameron Highland PKR candidate M. Manogaran filed a petition to nullify the GE14 result, alleging that bribery had taken place.
PKR candidate Dr Streram Sinnasamy filed a petition alleging EC denied him the right to contest the Rantau seat in the recent general election.