PAS fails to strike out suit by Amanah veep on alleged LGBT support

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has rejected an application by PAS to strike out a defamation suit by Mujahid Yusof Rawa against the party on claims that the Amanah vice-president supports the LGBT community.

Mujahid’s counsel, Noorazmir Zakaria, said judge Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh made the decision on June 21. He also ordered the party to pay Mujahid RM3,000 in costs and set the trial for Nov 24 to 26, 2025.

Lawyer Mohd Faizi Che Abu, representing PAS, said the court had rejected the party's application after finding that there were issues which needed to be addressed, including whether the Facebook account was owned by PAS.

On Feb 15, PAS, represented by its secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan, filed an application to strike out Mujahid’s suit on the basis that he as the plaintiff had failed to reveal any reasonable clause of action against the party.

Mujahid filed his suit on Dec 15, 2022, claiming that on Oct 16 that year, PAS had with malicious intent deliberately damaged his reputation and slandered him by making or publishing a defamatory statement on its Facebook account.

He sought a court order for a retraction and for the statement and his photo to be deleted within 14 days of the judgment day, in addition to general, exemplary and aggravated damages.

In its statement of defence, PAS claimed that the plaintiff’s statement of demand was flawed and invalid as he had failed to name the offender who had control and published the article in question.