The Shah Alam High Court has fixed July 20 to render its decision in the trial of the RM10 million defamation suit brought by Selangor Umno against PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali and three others.  

Judicial commissioner Ahmad Zaki Husin set the date after hearing submissions from both parties in Shah Alam today.       

Besides Mustafa, the other defendants in the suit, filed on Sept 14 last year, by Selangor Umno over an article published in the July 19-21 2011 issue of Harakah, are its editor Ahmad Lutfi Othman, reporter Khairul Azlam Mohamad and printer Angkatan Edaran Enterprise Sdn Bhd.    

Umno’s counsel Mohd Hafarizam Harun submitted that Mustafa’s remarks in the article of Umno having meddled in the affairs of state government agency, Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais), was slanderous and defamatory to the plaintiff.  

The suit stemmed from a raid at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church last year.     

On Mustafa’s claim that the report was meant for the consumption of only PAS members, Hafarizam rebutted that the matter could have been issued by circular to the party’s divisions, without the need for television coverage.  

He also contended that Harakah was only a party newsletter and therefore did not enjoy ‘qualified privilege’ as ordinary newspapers.  

In his submission, Mustafa’s counsel Mohamed Hanipa Maidin said that his client’s remarks were not directed at Selangor Umno.   

“Look at the article, there’s not even a single word (mentioning) Umno Selangor,” he said.    

Earlier in the proceedings, Ahmad Zaki had granted Hafarizam’s request to file a written submission on the filing of defamation suits by political parties, a matter which was also brought up by Mohamed Hanipa.   

Mohamed Hanipa, in his submission, had said that political parties could not sue for defamation under the English common law.   

- Bernama