Now, Farhash files urgent appeal in third attempt to gag over Sabah minerals exposé

Former PKR leader turned multi-millionaire businessman Farhash Wafa Salvador has requested an urgent hearing as he seeks to prevent MalaysiaNow from publishing further reports related to the Sabah government's decision to approve a mining exploration licence covering a massive forest reserve bordering Kalimantan.

A letter from the law firm representing the former political secretary to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stated that a certificate of urgency was filed, with case management set for Oct 13 at the Court of Appeal.

This follows Farhash and his business partner Aminudin Mustapha's failure in their first attempt at the Shah Alam High Court, and their second attempt at the Court of Appeal, to obtain an interim injunction against MalaysiaNow.

The injunction seeks to prevent MalaysiaNow from publishing reports related to the revelation that their company, Bumi Suria Sdn Bhd, received approval for a mineral exploration licence in 2024 from Sabah Minerals Management (SMM).

The plaintiffs are seeking to overturn the Shah Alam High Court's decision on Sept 4 to dismiss their application for the injunction, ahead of their RM10 million defamation suit against MalaysiaNow.

Shah Alam High Court judge Noor Hayati Mat stated that while it was not for the court to decide whether the plaintiffs had been defamed, MalaysiaNow's report "was not obviously untrue and therefore there is no necessity for an injunction".

The plaintiffs were also ordered to pay MalaysiaNow RM5,000 in costs.

On July 21, MalaysiaNow reported that Bumi Suria's application for a mining exploration licence was approved by SMM during a board meeting on May 21 last year, chaired by Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor, who is also the chairman of SMM.

Checks with the Companies Commission revealed that the decision came just two weeks after Farhash and Amin took control of Bumi Suria.

SMM is currently at the centre of an explosive corruption scandal involving senior government politicians after businessman Albert Tei released a series of video recordings showing Sabah state assemblymen discussing bribes ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of ringgit.