KUALA LUMPUR: The hearing of the defamation suit filed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad against Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, which was scheduled to continue today at the High Court here, has been postponed to Oct 29 after the former prime minister was admitted to the National Heart Institute (IJN) due to a lung infection.
Dr Mahathir’s lawyer Mior Nor Haidir Suhaimi informed the court that his client was admitted to IJN yesterday afternoon due to a lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI).
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“As such, my client has been issued medical leave until Oct 25. I request that today’s and tomorrow’s hearings be vacated,“ he said.
Judicial Commissioner Gan Techiong then scheduled the continuation of the trial for Oct 29 and 30, as well as Dec 5, 6, and 9.
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Dr. Mahathir, who is 99 years old, as the plaintiff, is still providing testimony in his lawsuit against the deputy prime minister, alleging that the latter stated that ‘Kutty’ was part of his (Dr Mahathir’s) and that this was intended as a derogatory reference to him..
According to the statement of claim filed on July 20, 2022, Dr. Mahathir alleges that Ahmad Zahid made the defamatory statement against him during an UMNO division meeting in Kelana Jaya on July 30, 2017, and that this statement was republished on Astro Awani’s YouTube channel and several online news portals which was accessible to internet users without any restrictions.
