The Kuala Lumpur High Court today fixed this Friday to continue the hearing of a defamation suit brought by Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez against the Utusan Malaysia newspaper.

Justice RK Nathan fixed the date after the court was told that the plaintiff's counsel, Malik Imtiaz, was engaged in a matter at the Court of Appeal.

Fernandez is suing the Malay daily over an article on Sept 20, 1995, which stated that she had failed to cooperate with the police in their investigations into allegations found in a memorandum by her at a press conference in August 1995 on alleged torture and deaths in Malaysian detention camps for illegal immigrants.

In the suit, Fernandez claimed that the article was written with malice and had meant that she was purposely evading the police, was insincere and lacked integrity.

In defence, Utusan Malaysia denied defaming Fernandez and stated that the article was based on facts.

Fernandez is scheduled to continue giving evidence when the hearing resumes on Friday.

Police report

In her previous testimony on Nov 23 last year, she stated that a police officer had gone to see her regarding the memorandum in August 1995.

She said she was in China to attend a conference when a police report was lodged against her on Sept 1 that year by a high-ranking police officer over the memorandum. She received a fax from the Dang Wangi police station on Sept 6, 1995, asking her to cooperate in the investigations.

Fernandez currently faces a charge of "maliciously publishing false news" after the release of the memorandum.

The criminal trial at the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate Court began in June 1996 and is still ongoing, resuming hearing on Feb 5.

Fernandez, also a Keadilan supreme council member, faces three years in jail if convicted. She is currently out on bail.