Judge Yeoh Wee Siam set the date in chambers in the presence of counsel Yap Boon Hau, who represented the plaintiff Noor Farida, and counsel Azad Bashir, who represented the defendant Azmi Arshad.

Azad told reporters that the court had also set Sept 30 for case management.

Noor Farida, 60, who was the former Malaysian Ambassador in Netherlands, had filed the suit on March 7, claiming that Azmi had written and published an article entitled “Low Yat Is Only a Gentle Reminder” on the Internet in the “Islam & Melayu” portal, dated July 13, 2015.

In her statement of claim, the plaintiff said that the article implied she insulted Islam and expressed support for DAP leaders and news portals such as Malaysiakini, Free Malaysia Today and The Heat to allegedly ridicule Muslims.

The plaintiff claimed the article that was also published on Facebook under the defendant’s name, Azmi Arshad, on July 13, at 2.10am, was made open for reading and accessible to users of the social website, and garnered 1,042 “likes”, 90 comments and was shared with other Facebook users as many as 370 times since the date it was published.

Noor Farida, in a letter to Azmi dated Aug 20, 2015, requested that he retract the published article from his Facebook account, which the defendant refused to do.

She also requested for an injunction order to prevent either the defendant or his agent from republishing slanderous words.

Noor Farida also demanded general damages, a court order seeking the publication of an apology to the plaintiff, interest, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.

– BERNAMA