Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has filed an RM220 million defamation suit against Malaysiakini over coverage of his corruption trial.

The lawsuit, filed on March 24, cited 22 articles published by Malaysiakini, including four Bernama articles, as well as readers comments.

Zahid is currently on trial for 12 charges of CBT, eight charges of corruption and 27 charges of money laundering.

The suit named Malaysiakini, editor-in-chief Steven Gan and a journalist as defendants.