Published: Thursday October 29, 2009 MYT 11:46:00 AM
Updated: Thursday October 29, 2009 MYT 2:02:29 PM

Court gives Manohara Nov 5 ultimatum (Update 2)

By LISA GOH

lisagoh@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Indonesian teen model Manohara Odelia Pinot and her mother Daisy Fajarina will have to find new solicitors by Nov 5, or will have to pay her Kelantan prince husband RM105mil over his defamation suit, the High Court ruled Thursday.

High Court senior assistent registrar Shazali Hidayat Shariff fixed the date in chambers after counsel for Tengku Temenggong of Kelantan Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Sultan Ismail Petra applied for a date to allow the defendants time to engage new lawyers.

Speaking to reporters later, the prince’s counsel Mohd Haaziq Pillay said should the mother and daughter fail to meet the deadline, then the court would issue a judgment-in-fault ordering them to pay up.

He also said that the court confirmed that Manohara’s former solicitors from the firm of Messrs Fakrul Hisham Abdullah had returned all relevant documents to her.

In July, Tengku Muhammad Fakhry filed the RM105mil suit against his estranged wife and her mother for defamation.

The plaintiff is seeking RM35mil each in aggravated, exemplary and compensatory damages as well as costs, interest and other relief deemed fit by the court.

He is also applying for an injunction to restrain the defendants from further speaking and uttering similar words/ statements against him.

Earlier this month, Messrs Fakrul Hisham Abdullah and Associates, engaged to act for Manohara and Daisy Fajarina, withdrew as their solicitors on record.

Manohara, 17, had fled from her husband on May 31 when they were in Singapore to visit the Sultan of Kelantan at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

She returned to Jakarta after accusing the 31-year-old prince of abusing her physically and sexually, which was reported widely in the Indonesian and Malaysian media.

In his earlier statement of claim, Tengku Muhammad Fakhry said the defamatory words widely printed and circulated online in Malaysia and Indonesia implied that he was guilty of mistreating, sexually harassing,abducting and unlawfully confining Manohara.

The allegations, he said, were baseless and meant to disparage him in the eyes of the members of the royalty, the government and the public.

Due to this, he said he was forced to initiate legal proceedings to clear his name.

On July 5, Tengku Muhammad Fakhry filed two applications against Manohara at the Syariah High and Lower Courts in Kota Baru, demanding the return of about RM1mil loan and that she be loyal to him.

According to the prince, the couple married on Aug 26, 2008 and stayed together at Mahkota Palace in Kubang Kerian.

At the lower Syariah court, the prince claimed that he had issued an ultimatum to Manohara on June 26, through the local media, to reconcile with him by July 2. He said Manohara was informed of this via the media but she failed to comply.

He later asked the court to issue an order to reconcile or deem her to be nusyuz.

(Nusyuz is the refusal of a wife to obey her husband in instances such as wilfully distancing herself from her husband, leaving the house without permission or refusing to relocate/ stay with her husband without valid reason(s) as prescribed under Islamic Law.)

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