See you in court, Akmal tells Kok after defamation lawsuit threat

 

In the letter of demand sighted by FMT, Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh was said to have called DAP vice-chairman Teresa Kok an ’embarrassment’ to the country.

PETALING JAYA: 

Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh says he is ready to face DAP vice-chairman Teresa Kok in court after the latter threatened to sue him for allegedly defaming her in a TikTok video in relation to the proposal for mandatory halal certification.

Akmal told FMT that he had yet to receive the letter of demand from Kok, but that he was 

waiting (for it) and ready to battle it out in court

.

In the letter of demand sighted by FMT, Kok’s lawyer SN Nair said his client would seek RM25 million in damages from Akmal if he failed to comply with her demands.

The Seputeh MP is demanding that Akmal immediately retract his allegedly defamatory statements against her and remove them from his social media account.

She is also seeking an unconditional and irrevocable apology as well as an undertaking by Akmal to not repeat his comments against her.

We await your response without delay. If our client does not receive any satisfactory response from you within seven working days from the date of receipt of this notice, our instructions are to initiate legal action with no further reference to you,

 the letter reads.

According to the letter, Akmal had, in the video posted on TikTok, called Kok an 

old nyonya lady

 and said she should not interfere with Islamic matters, particularly regarding the halal certification proposal.

Akmal, who is Merlimau assemblyman, also allegedly called Kok an 

embarrassment

 to the country and said that she had better remain silent on matters concerning Islam.

The video had garnered over 720,500 views, more than 75,000 likes, 9,314 comments, 6,162 favourites and 8,784 shares.

The letter also states that Akmal had 

deliberately exaggerated and/or unduly amplified and/or maliciously twisted Kok’s statements

 with the intention to defame her.

It claims that Akmal’s remarks give the public the impression that Kok is, among others, a 

racist

, a person who 

does not respect Islam

 and 

has no knowledge about halal certification

, as well as 

an enemy of the state and is disloyal to the country

.

The letter also states that Akmal had failed to take down and retract the impugned statements against Kok even after she had clarified her stance on the matter.

You have subjected our client to significant and/or humiliating pressure from the community and have caused our client to be subjected to an investigation by the police,

 says the lawyer’s letter.

On Sunday, it was reported that police had launched an investigation into Kok’s remarks on the proposal to make halal certification mandatory for all food establishments that do not serve pork and alcohol after five reports were received on the matter. - FMT