Anwar to file defamation suit against Yusoff, says lawyer

(FMT) – PKR president Anwar Ibrahim will file a defamation suit against Muhammed Yusoff Rawther for alleging sexual assault, lawyer Ramkarpal Singh said.

“I have obtained instructions from Anwar to file the suit, which will be done next week,” Ramkarpal told FMT.

The lawyer said this in response to comments by Yusoff, who welcomed his former employer to file a suit against him.

“Anwar wants to sue me? Bring it on,” Yusoff told reporters earlier today at a press conference when accompanied by his lawyer, Haniff Khatri Abdulla.

“Regardless of what happens, I intend to see this through. I think there should be no cost for justice.

“It should be sought out at all cost. I’m going to go the distance,” he added.

Ramkarpal Singh.
Ramkarpal said he had sent a notice of demand early last month to Yusoff but his lawyer wrote back and sought clarification.

Ramkarpal said Yusoff, 26, was given seven days to explain a statutory declaration (SD) he had supposedly prepared in which he detailed the alleged assault.

“The letter of demand has now been overtaken by events and I have strict instructions from Anwar to file the defamation suit,” he added.

Yusoff’s police report against Anwar in early December resulted in a probe under Section 354 of the Penal Code, which deals with using criminal force to outrage a person’s modesty.

Police recorded statements from Yusoff, as well as carried out a polygraph test. Police have also questioned Anwar before accompanying him to his Bukit Segambut residence. The PKR president has rejected the allegations.

On Tuesday, Solicitor-General Engku Nor Faizah Engku Atek said there is no case against Anwar over the allegations, citing “contradictions of material facts”.

“We also found there is insufficient evidence to prosecute on the reports lodged, based on the evidence available in the investigation papers,” she said.

Anwar was jailed twice on charges of sodomy, both times in what he said were political conspiracies. His five-year jail term was cut short in 2018 following a royal pardon, just a week after the change of government after the May 9 general election.

In both cases, Anwar had claimed high-level conspiracies to end his political career.