{"id":16920,"date":"2023-05-05T17:52:51","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T09:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=16920"},"modified":"2023-05-05T17:52:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T09:52:53","slug":"mahathir-files-rm150-million-defamation-suit-against-anwar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=16920","title":{"rendered":"Mahathir files RM150 million defamation suit against Anwar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Kuala Lumpur, May 5<\/strong> &#8212; Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has filed a defamation lawsuit against current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for RM150 million ($35.7 million USD).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lawsuit was filed through Messrs Law Practice of Rafique at the Shah Alam High Court on May 3, with Anwar named as the sole defendant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his statement of claim, Mahathir stated that during a special congress on March 18, Anwar had made several defamatory statements that aimed to tarnish the plaintiff\u2019s reputation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The event, dubbed \u201cKongres Nasional Khas Malaysia Madani: Pelaksanaan Sebuah Idealisme,\u201d was held at the Melawati Stadium in Shah Alam.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122.webp\" alt=\"mahathir\" class=\"wp-image-16709\" width=\"528\" height=\"330\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122.webp 800w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122-300x188.webp 300w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122-768x480.webp 768w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122-160x100.webp 160w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122-350x219.webp 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 528px) 100vw, 528px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Mahathir claimed that Anwar\u2019s speech contained false accusations that he had amassed wealth for himself, his children and family members, and had given special treatment or priority to high-ranking individuals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He further stated that these statements were untrue and had damaged his image as a statesman and two-time prime minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mahathir is seeking RM50 million ($11.9 million USD) in general damages and RM100 million ($23.8 million USD) in exemplary damages, as well as an apology and an order for Anwar to immediately retract all defamatory remarks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The event was broadcast on Facebook Live via the account &#8220;Anwar Ibrahim&#8221; and PKR&#8217;s YouTube channel, and media reports on the event had also been widely circulated on various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, and YouTube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The case management has been scheduled for May 31. This is not the first time the two politicians have clashed, as they have had a complicated history spanning decades, including a power struggle that led to Mahathir&#8217;s resignation in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/\">NMT<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kuala Lumpur, May 5 &#8212; Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has filed a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10893],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courts"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122.webp",800,500,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122-300x188.webp",300,188,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122-768x480.webp",640,400,true],"large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122.webp",640,400,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122.webp",800,500,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122.webp",800,500,false],"newsium-slider-full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122.webp",800,500,false],"newsium-featured":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122.webp",800,500,false],"newsium-medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mahathir-anwar-collage-121122.webp",720,450,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Editor"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?cat=10893\" rel=\"category\">Courts<\/a>","tag_info":"Courts","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16920"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16921,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16920\/revisions\/16921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}