KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 6): The High Court has set Aug 13 and 14, and Aug 18 to Aug 21 this year for the defamation suit of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad against current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. 

Shah Alam High Court Judicial Commissioner Zaharah Hussain set the dates after a case management on Monday. 

She also set Feb 25 for the next case management to finalise pre-trial documents between parties. 

Mahathir’s lawyer Rafique Rashid, and Anwar’s lawyer Aliff Benjamin Suhaimi, were present at the case management. 

Prior to this, Zaharah had dismissed Mahathir’s discovery application for documents from third parties to be produced, following the allegations made against him by Anwar.

Mahathir filed the RM150 million defamation suit against Anwar in May 2023, over claims that Anwar had made during a speech at the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) congress in March 2023, alleging that “a leader of 22 years and 22 months” had enriched his own family.

Anwar, in his defence to Mahathir’s suit, claimed that the statements he made at the party’s congress were true.

Currently, two of Mahathir’s children, Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir and Mirzan Mahathir, are said to be under probe by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). The two men have declared their assets within the deadline set by the MACC in September last year.