Lawyer Mohd Hafarizam Harun said he is awaiting a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ reply from lawyers representing The Wall Street Journal on whether they would be invoking the Speech Act for their defence.

The Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage (Speech) Act is a statutory federal law in the United States that makes foreign libel judgments unenforceable by the US courts.

Hafarizam said he has advised his client, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, to defer the possible filing of the suit against the newspaper until there is a reply on this issue.