Last Updated: 2:56pm, May 15, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR (May 15): The Court of Appeal has granted a stay to social activist Marina Mahathir in her defamation suit against Pertubuhan Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma), pending a decision by the court on whether Isma should testify first in the case.

In a defamation proceeding, it is the norm for the plaintiff (Marina) to prove their case against the defendant. Her lawyers argued that Isma should be the first to prove their allegations against Marina.

Marina's earlier application at the High Court before the Judicial Commissioner (JC) Rosilah Yop was dismissed and the trial was set to go on today and tomorrow.

Speaking to reporters, Marina's lawyer Rosli Dahlan confirmed that the stay was granted by a three-person Court of Appeal bench.

He said that since Isma was the plaintiff, the ball is now in their court on why they had made the statements in the first place.

The three-person bench was headed by Justice Zaharah Ibrahim. The two others were Justices Mohd Ariff Mohd Yusof and David Wong Dak Wah. The decision to grant the stay was unanimous.

Marina has also made an application to appeal Rosilah's decision and this matter is set for case management on June 24.

She is suing Isma for allegedly linking her to Comango, the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs in the universal periodic review process of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council.

Comango has been declared as an illegal organisation by the Home Ministry for "championing rights that deviated from Islam" which included fighting for the freedom of sexuality as the outfit supported equal rights to be granted to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT), among others.

Marina filed the suit on Jan 16 naming Isma president Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman, deputy president Aminuddin Yahaya, vice president Abdul Rahman Mat Dali and 13 committee members as the defendants.  

She alleged that Isma circulated 70,000 pamphlets with the heading, 'Antara 54 NGO dalam Comango' (Among the 54 NGOs in Comango) at mosques in Klang Valley, Kuala Lumpur, Shah Alam, Putrajaya, Seremban, Samarahan (Sarawak), Melaka, Kuantan and Kuala Terengganu on Nov 8 last year.

She also alleged that Isma posted another article with the heading, 'Isma edar risalah dedah dalang Comango' (ISMA distributed 70,000 pamphlets exposing the masterminds in Comango) in its website and Facebook on the same day, Nov 8.

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