PETALING JAYA, Aug 23 — Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin has brushed off the Home Ministry’s lawsuit threat against her, saying today common law principles barred the government from suing her for criticising it.
The Home Ministry lodged a police report against the Wanita PKR chief earlier this morning and said it will be filing a defamation suit against her “very soon” over her controversial claim last week that that illegal immigrants registering with the ministry’s 6P amnesty programme have been made to swear an oath that they and their families will vote for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition come polling day.
In an afternoon press conference today, Zuraida (picture) said she had been advised by PKR vice-president and lawyer N. Surendran that Putrajaya could not sue her for her remark.
“The federal government or ministry cannot sue citizens because they are set up on taxpayers’ fund,” she told reporters at the party headquarters today.
“If allowed, it will have chilling effects on freedom of speech,” she said.
But Surendran admitted, when contacted, that the common law principle was only good if the government or its agencies were mounting a civil suit.
“It’s a different case if the charges are criminal,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
Deputy minister Datuk Lee Chee Leong had earlier said Zuraida’s allegations were baseless and untrue.
“As far as we know, no such thing. We never have that kind of condition,” he said.
Zuraida told reporters today she will lodge a police report against the Home Ministry later this week for “treason”, after compiling further evidence to back her allegation.
“I don’t want to reveal anything now because I don’t want any interruption, such as police raids,” she said, and maintained her party had proof that illegal immigrants were made to swear such an oath as a precondition to register with the Home Ministry’s 6P amnesty programme.
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