Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the former prime minister, was admitted to the National Heart Institute (IJN) on Tuesday (October 15), the Kuala Lumpur High Court was informed.
According to a letter from an IJN cardiologist, Mahathir, 99, has been admitted for treatment of a lower respiratory tract infection. The former prime minister went to the hospital yesterday evening.
As a result, the two days scheduled for his defamation trial against Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Wednesday (October 16) and Thursday (October 17), have been vacated. The trial will proceed on October 29. Dr. Mahathir was given a medical certificate that excused him for 12 days, until October 25.
His lawyer, Mior Nor Haidir Suhaimi, told court commissioner Gan Techiong of the change today, forcing Dr. Mahathir to postpone his defamation lawsuit against Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
According to the statement of claim filed on July 20, 2022, Dr. Mahathir claimed that Ahmad Zahid, 71, made defamatory remarks against him at an Umno division meeting in Kelana Jaya on July 30, 2017.
According to The Star, Dr. Mahathir further alleged that Ahmad Zahid's slanderous statement questioned and threw doubt on his ability to lead the country and a party that prioritizes Malays as a whole.
As a result, he said that his reputation as a statesman and powerful political person around the world had been destroyed.
In July 2022, he sued Ahmad Zahid on the latter's claim that the former Prime Minister was born as “Mahathir s/o Iskandar Kutty.”
He claimed the comment was intended to imply that he was not born a Malay or Muslim and that his birth name was Mahathir, son of Iskandar Kutty, as reported by Free Malaysia Today.
It further claimed that Mahathir Mohamad was using his name for political and personal gain. The court has also set aside three days in December for Zahid to testify.
Mior Nor stated that the plaintiff's second witness will be Mahathir's son, Mukhriz.
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