Judicial commissioner in Najib-Pua defamation case recuses himself

KUALA LUMPUR: A High Court judicial commissioner has recused himself from hearing an injunction by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak against PJ Utara MP Tony Pua over a video clip posting on Facebook.

Najib's counsel Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun told media after the parties met JC Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh in chambers, that the had judge fixed May 31 for case management before a deputy registrar.

The two-page statement was made available to the press and was read by Mohd Hafarizam outside the courtroom on Wednesday.

JC Wan Ahmad Farid made the decision on the grounds that it was common knowledge that before being appointed to the bench he was an active politician and at one time a member of the administration and Dewan Negara.

The JC said that for the record, on the eve of his appointment to the bench, he had resigned from the political party that he used to be a member of, adding that he was never a member of the administration headed by the plaintiff.

JC Wan Ahmad Farid said that questions of his political involvement had occurred "fairly recently" and the public perception of the independence of the judiciary should not be shaken in anyway.

Najib had on April 21 sued Pua over the posting of an allegedly defamatory video clip on Facebook. The live video was about PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's Private Member's Bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act.

Najib claimed Pua broadcast it from the Parliament complex on April 6.

The plaintiff contended that the almost two-and-a-half-minute clip contained slanderous words against him in his capacity as Prime Minister and Finance Minister. The video was posted on Pua's Facebook page and was accessible to Internet users worldwide, according to him.

The Prime Minister is claiming that Pua had malicious intent to slander him and knew that the video would affect his reputation.

In addition, Najib said it also implied that he was a leader who practised dirty politics to ensure he stayed in power and portrayed him as having conspired with PAS "to create split Malay votes among the Opposition parties".

Apart from that, Najib claimed the statements suggested that he was cheating the people in a scandal involving 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), and it implied that he had stolen the people's money, was untrustworthy and unfit to hold public office.