KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 ― The judge in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s defamation suit against former MCA leader Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik has recused himself because he and the latter went to the same school, Najib’s lawyer said.
Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun said High Court judge Datuk John Louis O’Hara and Dr Ling had studied at the Royal Military College (RMC) and belonged to the school alumni’s club, the Old Putera Association.
“Judge intimated his desire to recuse himself. Parties also did not object, taking into account it’s his decision,” Hafarizam told Malay Mail Onlinewhen contacted.
The prime minister’s lawyer said the case has now been transferred to Justice Datuk Nor Bee Ariffin.
Both Najib and Dr Ling have opted not to go for mediation, Najib’s lawyer Nor Emelia Mohd Iszeham said last Thursday, after O’Hara directed the parties last January to try resolving the case via mediation first before taking the matter to court.
Najib filed a defamation suit against Dr Ling last October over the former transport minister’s reported remarks that the prime minister “has taken people’s money and put it in his own personal accounts.”
The US-based Wall Street Journal had reported last July that some US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) was funnelled through several entities linked to the state-owned firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) into the prime minister’s personal bank accounts, two months before the 2013 general elections.
MALAY MAIL ONLINE
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