KOTA KINABALU: A former Sabah assistant minister is suing the owner of TV3 news channel, Media Prima Bhd, and national news agency, Bernama, for failing to retract a “defamatory” news report released by a former Joint Task Force 2 commander manning the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) in April this year.
Former Sabah assistant minister Ramlee Marhaban today said he had given the news agencies 14 days to retract or verify what really happened the day of his alleged “detention” by the members of the Joint Task Force 2 on April 11.
He also said the news agencies failed to put their reports right despite clarification from the police that his alleged run-in with the military that day was merely an inspection and not an arrest as stated in the Joint Task Force 2 news release to the media.
He said the summons was filed three days ago by his lawyer.
This follows up on his earlier summons issued against former Joint Task Force 2 commander Brigadier-General Zarondin Md Amin and the editor of Harian Metro who had published the alleged “erroneous” report.
His first summons is presently pending in court.
“In the TV3 report, two newscasters, a man and a woman, stated that my family members and I were arrested as suspected terrorists and had unlawful possession of firearms.
“Confidential pictures of me and my family members were also aired in the report. There were clear and unequivocal statements that I and my family members had entered Malaysia illegally from the Philippines from a place called Sitangkai.
“How could this be because I had fully informed the relevant authorities, namely the Eastern Sabah Security Command, of my travel plans and destination the day before I travelled and obtained the relevant clearance?
“However, most importantly, there was no arrest and there was only an inspection.
“This was made very clear at the Semporna jetty, where the police had also verified that I am who I said I was to the military personnel,” he said at a press conference held here today.
In the alleged armed forces news release, Zarondin said he did not rule out the possibility that Ramlee and his family members were part of a group trying to carry out cross-border crimes, including kidnapping, as well as terrorism.
Ramlee said the news reports over the report had not only been damaging for him as a public figure, a former assemblyman who had contributed much for the state and country, but would also leave a black spot on his record.
He said this would destroy his chances of travelling abroad in future if these countries ran a background check on him and relied on these erroneous reports to reject his entry.
He hoped his legal action would serve as a lesson to all media practitioners to properly verify or cross-check their stories before having them published. - FMT
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