KUALA LUMPUR: The owner of Facebook account "N13 Kuang”, Mohd Fauzan Madzlan, was ordered by the High Court here on Thursday (Dec 28) to file his statement of defence by Jan 15, 2024 in response to Communication Minister, Fahmi Fadzil’s lawsuit against him.

       The Lembah Pantai Parliament Member filed a defamation suit against Mohd Fauzan on Sept 5 to refute allegations that he had made a political speech at a mosque in Rawang, Selangor.

       Fahmi’s lawyer Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi, said the court also ordered the minister to file his response to the defence on or by Jan 29, 2024.

       "The court set Feb 7, 2024, for case management to allow both parties to update the filing status and interlocutory filing (if any),” said Asheeq Ali when contacted after the e-review case management before senior assistant registrar Nur Shasha Hidayah Nor Azahar on Thursday.

       Fahmi has also filed lawsuits against independent speaker Ahmad Dusuki Abd Rani and blogger Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, better known as "Papagomo”, on the same matter.

       In his statement of claim, Fahmi claimed that the three defendants had published defamatory words by accusing him of abusing a place of worship, namely a mosque, to campaign for an election, contrary to the orders by His Majesty the Sultan of Selangor.

       Fahmi claimed the defamatory words were posted on Mohd Fauzan’s Facebook and Ahmad Dusuki's Facebook and Instagram pages on July 31, as well as Wan Muhammad Azri's TikTok and Facebook pages on Aug 1.

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       He also claimed that the slanderous statements were baseless, and the Selangor Islamic Religious Council had confirmed that he did not make any political speech as alleged by the defendants.

       Therefore, he is seeking general damages, aggravated or exemplary damages, and an injunction to restrain the defendants from repeating or causing the re-publication of the defamatory statements. – Bernama