Court Directs Lawyer To File Defence Against Bersatu Rep S Lawsuit

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An alleged rape victim’s lawyer has to file, before Jan 20, his statement of defence against Gombak Setia assemblyperson Muhammad Hilman Idham’s defamation suit.
This was the direction given by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court in relation to Hilman's suit against legal practitioner Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi.
It was previously reported that Hilman (above) is suing the lawyer over the latter’s press conference held on Aug 11 last year.
On that date, the media reported Asheeq claiming the police had yet to act on his client’s report alleging she was raped by two men with purported links to Hilman, who is the Gombak Bersatu youth chief.
It was previously reported that the woman submitted alleged evidence to the police over the purported incident.
Asheeq’s counsel Ramkarpal Singh confirmed that the Sessions Court issued the direction during online case management of the lawsuit that took place yesterday.
“The court’s direction (to Asheeq) is to file the (statement of) defence before Jan 20, 2022.
“The next case management date is on Jan 20, 2022,” Ramkarpal told Malaysiakini recently.
When contacted by Malaysiakini, Hilman's counsel Ahmad Hafiz Zubir also confirmed the lower court's direction as well as the Jan 20 case management date.
According to the online cause list, the lawsuit is fixed for online case management before Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court (civil action jurisdiction) judge Lailatul Zuraida Harron @ Harun at 9am on Jan 20.
On Dec 12 last year, Hilman’s counsel from law firm Hafiz Ruzaini & Co filed the civil action.
Through the suit’s statement of claim, the lawmaker alleged that Asheeq made a defamatory statement during the Aug 11 media briefing held in front of the Bukit Aman police headquarters.
The plaintiff won the Gombak Setia state seat in Selangor on a Pakatan Harapan ticket during the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018.
However, Hilman later crossed over from Harapan to Perikatan Nasional (PN) when he left PKR for Bersatu. He previously held the post of deputy chief of PKR's youth wing.
Asheeq is currently a PKR member.
The plaintiff is also the political secretary of International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali and PN Youth’s information chief. - Mkini

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