The DAP MP will abandon her plans to obtain judgment in default of appearance since the Umno leader will defend the suit, says her lawyer S N Nair.
PETALING JAYA: Umno leader Jamal Yunos, who is facing a defamation suit from Seputeh MP Teresa Kok over claims she had misused welfare funds, has finally decided to see her in court.
Kok’s lawyer S N Nair said the Sungai Besar Umno division chief filed a memorandum of appearance earlier this week after her client had served the writ to start her suit last month.
“Lawyers from a legal firm have communicated to us that they will represent Jamal in future court proceedings,” he said.
Nair said neither Jamal nor his lawyer had appeared when the case was fixed for mention during the last two occasions.
The next mention will be before High Court deputy registrar Erry Shahriman Nor Aripin on June 2.
“We had earlier decided to obtain a judgment in default of appearance if Jamal or his counsel are absent at the next proceeding, but now we will not do so,” he said.
Kok, who is also DAP national vice-chairman, filed the suit after Jamal claimed she had abused the money under the Yayasan Warisan Selangor (Yawas).
She claimed that Jamal’s statements had tarnished her reputation as a senior politician in the DAP and painted her as a corrupt person.
“The accusations by Jamal were baseless as I did not abuse my powers to obtain funds from Yawas,” Kok said in her statement of claim.
In the suit, filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court registry, it was stated that she was seeking general, aggravated and exemplary damages.
Kok is also seeking an injunction to stop the Red Shirts leader and his agents from publicising further defamatory statements against her.
MACC officers had raided her office, requesting for the original documents for Skim Mesra Usia Emas (SMUE), which falls under the Yawas fund.
The raid is believed have been based on a series of police reports made by Jamal against her and her DAP colleagues.
The first was filed on March 14, claiming that politicians from the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor had taken funds meant for welfare from Yawas instead of disbursing the money to eligible recipients.
He identified Kok, Sekinchan assemblyman Ng Suee Lim and a PKR assemblyman whom he did not name, as the alleged culprits.
This is the third defamation suit against the Umno politician.
Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah sued him last year for claiming that the electoral reform group had links with Islamic State (IS), while Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin sued him for accusing her of being the mastermind behind his nose injury during a fracas involving his Red Shirts group and police at the Ampang Point shopping mall last November.