Posting made to show as if Rosmah was PM, lawyer tells court

A lawyer representing Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor said the alleged posting made by Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming last year in his Facebook showing as if Rosmah was the prime minister, a cabinet minister and an MP, was defamatory.

Lawyer Mohd Hafarizam Harun submitted that the posting was as if they were in a Cabinet meeting; however, “we have affidavits from Malacca Chief Minister Idris Haron and Senator Sim Kui Hian (from SUPP) that the picture taken in China proved otherwise”.

Hafarizam, who wants the suit be decided on case law and not go for a full trial under provision of Order 14A of Rules of Court 2012, said the elements have been met, namely Nga did not deny the posting refers to the plaintiffs, and the Facebook account is his own as shown in his defence statement.

“The court would only have to decide on the third element, namely whether the post is defamatory.

“Here we have the picture of Najib, Rosmah along with Defence Minister Hishammuddin (Hussein) and Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai and an unidentified person with the words to show as if Rosmah was chairing the meeting, and not Najib. It is as if Rosmah holds an MP or a Cabinet post whereas she is not,” he said.

The Umno-linked lawyer said there were the words of Najib and Rosmah in the posting and the message has to be read based on the picture posted on Facebook.

Hafarizam said this in his submission before Kuala Lumpur High Court Justice Siti Khadijah Syed Hassan Badjenid.

Meeting was over Perak sultan’s death

The lawyer said Sim’s affidavit shows that this was just an informal meeting done at a hotel suite during an official visit in China, where in the affidavit it showed the actual positions of the people in the picture including the Malacca CM’s wife.

“Furthermore, in the affidavit by Idris (Malacca CM), it shows that the discussion in the meeting centred on whether Najib and Rosmah should go back following the passing of the Perak sultan, Sultan Azlan Shah, and to come back here (in China).

“The discussion centered not on the cabinet but on what is stated previously,” he said.

Hafarizam said the posting was as if Rosmah was trying to influence her husband, which is defamatory.

Najib and Rosmah filed the suit last July, following a Facebook posting Nga made on March 29, purportedly depicting them at a cabinet meeting.

In their defamation action against the Taiping MP, the couple alleged that Nga, in his post, had used the photograph to illustrate that Rosmah had once participated in a cabinet meeting.

They said the photograph was of them with several cabinet ministers and high-ranking Wisma Putra official in a hotel room on a visit to China, and not at a cabinet meeting.

Besides Hafarizam, lawyer M Reza Hassan also appeared for Najib.

Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo and lawyer Alex Tan appeared for Nga.

The hearing continues on May 9 before Justice Siti Khadijah with Nga’s application to strike out Najib’s suit. -Mkini