The author of a book that helped trigger the 1998 sacking of former Malaysian deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim died on Monday of diabetes, the official Bernama news agency said.
Khalid Jafri (65) leaves a wife and four children.
Khalid, the author of 50 Reasons Why Anwar Cannot Be PM, had been sentenced in July to one year in jail for accusing Anwar of sodomy, corruption and an extramarital affair that resulted in an illegitimate daughter.
Khalid was free on bail pending an appeal. However, early this month he was admitted to hospital for treatment for diabetes. His right leg was amputated and he was put on a life-support machine.
On August 18, a court awarded Anwar 4,5-million ringgit ($1,2-million) in damages over the book.
“The defendants’ main purpose in publishing the book was to destroy the plaintiff’s reputation and political career,” said High Court Judge Mohamad Hishamudin Mohamad Yunus in a strongly worded decision.
Khalid’s wife, Rozihan, was named as the second defendant in the libel case, in her role as publisher of the book.
The judge noted that the book was distributed to delegates at the general assembly of the ruling United Malays National Organisation in May 1998.
Anwar, heir apparent to then premier Mahathir Mohamad, was sacked in September 1998 and subsequently convicted on corruption and sodomy charges, which he said were engineered to prevent him challenging Mahathir for the leadership.
He was released from jail in September last year after the sodomy charges were overturned. — AFP