The High Court here has expunged several portions of Najib Razak‘s witness statement in his defamation suit against former attorney-general Tommy Thomas.
Justice Khadijah Idris allowed Thomas’s bid to strike out at least 22 parts of Najib’s 62-page witness statement intended for the former prime minister’s examination-in-chief.
Khadijah ruled that the expunged portions were inadmissible on multiple grounds, including for violations of the Evidence Act 1950, and because they involved opinion evidence, including on matters of law.
She also directed that the phrase “my family” be removed, saying it was not pleaded in Najib’s statement of claim.
The disputed section referred to Najib’s reaction to Thomas’s 2021 memoir, “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”, which he alleged defamed him and his family in relation to the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.
The expunged material also includes Najib’s reference to findings by a special task force on Thomas’s book, which the court had earlier barred during the pre-trial stage of the suit in 2022.
The court further struck off certain leading questions posed to Najib on grounds they prompted specific and desired answers.
Earlier, Najib’s counsel, Shafee Abdullah, submitted that the judge should first hear the evidence and any additional questions he intended to put to his client, and decide only after the testimony is completed whether the statements were admissible or otherwise.
Shafee also denied that Najib had ventured into judicial territory.
“If Yang Arif would examine every single answer provided didn’t transgress into the real expert area of lawyer or judge.
“He (Najib) uses simple terms that normal laymen would have understood like hearsay, prejudice, unfair, and so on,” he said.
Najib is suing Thomas and publisher GB Gerakbudaya Enterprise Sdn Bhd over alleged defamatory content in Thomas’s memoir.
His complaint centres around the contents of Chapter 42, titled “Altantuya”, which runs from pages 400 to 405.
He is seeking unspecified damages and wants words and statements deemed defamatory to be removed.
He also wants Thomas and Gerakbudaya to tender an apology, and is seeking a permanent injunction to prevent them from publishing defamatory statements about him.
Lawyers Alan Adrian Gomez represented Thomas, while Gokul Radhakrishnan acted for Gerakbudaya.
The hearing continues on Nov 17.
