Dr Mahathir, Ahmad Zahid Drop Defamation Lawsuits Against Each Other

KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 (Bernama) -- Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today agreed to withdraw their respective defamation lawsuits filed against each other at the High Court here.

Dr Mahathir, 100, withdrew his suit against Ahmad Zahid, 73, over allegedly defamatory remarks related to the "kutty" issue, without the right to refile the case.

In return, Ahmad Zahid withdrew his suit accusing Dr Mahathir of abusing his position to interfere in his ongoing court case. He also dropped contempt of court proceedings related to a press conference held by Dr Mahathir at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex lobby on Dec 5 last year.

Judicial Commissioner Gan Techiong allowed both applications and ordered the cases to be resolved without any order as to costs.

Dr Mahathir had initially filed the suit over remarks allegedly made by Ahmad Zahid during the Kelana Jaya UMNO Division meeting on July 30, 2017, which were later published by several news portals.

The contempt proceedings were related to Dr Mahathir’s press conference, during which he displayed documents including his identity card after testifying in the suit against Ahmad Zahid.

In the "kutty" defamation case, Dr Mahathir completed giving his testimony on Dec 5 last year, while his son, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, was the final witness for the plaintiff on Dec 9.

The court was initially set to hear the contempt proceedings today, but Dr Mahathir’s lawyer, Mior Nor Haidir Suhaimi, informed that both parties had reached a mutual agreement.

This was confirmed by Ahmad Zahid’s lawyer, Mohamed Shahrul Fazli Kamarulzaman.

Speaking to reporters after the proceedings, both lawyers said all related cases were dropped in the interest of the public and to help promote unity among national leaders.

Neither Dr Mahathir nor Ahmad Zahid was present in court.

-- BERNAMA