Malaysia opposition leader Anwar wins libel suit
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian opposition leader
Anwar Ibrahim won a defamation suit today against a
government-linked newspaper publisher over an article that he
said portrayed him as untrustworthy.
Anwar sued the New Straits Times Press over a 2002
article titled "Anwar's link to US lobbyist" that examined his
ties to a US think-tank.
Anwar claimed the article made him seem like an
"American agent" who was unprincipled and disloyal to
Malaysia, while the newspaper argued it was only reporting the
contents of a foreign magazine article about Anwar.
The High Court ruled in Anwar's favour and ordered the
New Straits Times Press to pay him USD 29,660 in damages, said
Anwar's attorney, Sankara Nair.
A representative of the publisher's legal team said
they had not decided whether to appeal.
Anwar was Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister from 1993
until 1998 when he was ousted after falling out with
then-leader Mahathir Mohamad. In 1999 he was sentenced to six
years for corruption followed in 2000 by a nine-year sentence
for sodomy. He claimed the government fabricated the charges.
Anwar was freed from prison in 2004 when Malaysia's
top court overturned the sodomy conviction. Soon after he
built an alliance out of three opposition parties that wrested
one-third of the seats in Parliament in general elections last
year. It was the ruling coalition's worst performance during
its five decades in power.
PTI