“The trial judge ruled that Dr Mahathir’s testimony will be relevant to assist the court in making its finding,” Jamal’s lawyer Naseer Yusof told reporters after Justice Zaki Abdul Wahab made the decision in his chambers.
Naseer said this was because Mahathir had made statements about the Bersih 3 rally in 2012.
Mahathir is now chairman of Pakatan Harapan (PH) and the coalition’s candidate for prime minister.
Naseer said the second reason was that Mahathir had been home minister when Maria’s late husband, Yunus Ali, was arrested under the now-repealed Internal Security Act in 1987.
Jamal, the Sungai Besar Umno division chief, had summoned Mahathir as his witness in the trial to prove his defence of fair comment and justification.
In her lawsuit, Maria claimed that Jamal, who led protests by the Red Shirts movement against Bersih in 2016, had uttered slanderous words against the electoral reforms coalition on Sept 28, 2016.
She also claimed that on Oct 4 that year, Jamal uttered similar slanderous words against Bersih during a media conference in the Bukit Aman police headquarters compound.
Maria is seeking general and aggravated damages, as well as an injunction to stop Jamal from uttering or publishing similar words, either verbally, in print or online.
Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim will take the witness stand on Jan 24.