Her lawyer, Sangeet Kaur Deo, informed Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Aliza Sulaiman that the witness statements addressed issues beyond the scope of the lawsuit.

Today marks the sixth day of the trial in the defamation suit filed by Yeoh against Kamarul regarding two Facebook posts made by him in May 2017. The trial began on Nov 25 last year.

The four witnesses are former Universiti Teknologi Mara vice-chancellor Ibrahim Abu Shah, Gabungan Nasionalis chairman Aminudin Yahaya, former senior executive of the Islamic Strategic Studies Institute Malaysia Harizal Hassan, and freelance writer Helen Ang.

Kamarul’s lawyer, Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, said he was caught by surprise at the objection raised by Yeoh.

He said that under the Malaysian Bar’s ethical guidelines, the opposing party must be notified in advance of any preliminary objections.

“In light of this, we request the court to grant us time to prepare a rebuttal to the objections,” he said.

Aliza decided to hear Sangeet’s oral submissions, and gave Khairul until tomorrow to prepare his rebuttal.

In the lawsuit filed in 2022, Yeoh claimed that Kamarul made two Facebook posts between May 10 and May 17, 2017, in which he accused her of using her political platform to promote Christianity.

The lecturer allegedly referenced Yeoh’s 2014 biography, Becoming Hannah: A Personal Journey, suggesting that she was advancing a Christian agenda and had intentions to transform Malaysia into a Christian nation.

In his defence, Kamarul asserted that the posts were not defamatory and that he had a duty to inform the public about the contents of the book, out of concern that its Christian narrative could influence readers.