Anwar arrives at Penang court for defamation case against newspaper

GEORGE TOWN: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has arrived at the Penang High Court for his RM70mil defamation suit against an English daily and three other parties which goes on trial Monday.

The former Opposition leader arrived at 9.15am under heavy police presence while a small crowd cheered outside.

Roads around the courthouse were blocked since early morning.

He is seeking damages for the publication of an article in an English daily.

In his statement of claim submitted in Sept 2015, he named Ranjit Singh Dhillon, Looi Sui-Chern, Adrian Lai and The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad as defendants.

He claimed that the first defendant had uttered malicious and defamatory statements in a press statement on Aug 6, 2013 to ruin his good name and reputation following an article "Prove you have nothing to hide" published on the same day.

Anwar alleged that the article accused him of paying Karpal Singh RM50mil in legal fees in order to bribe judges and prosecuting officers.

Also present in the courthouse were Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Anwar's family.