Influencer apologises to ex-religious minister over vaccine claim

Ramzi Kamil had in November suggested that Na’im Mokhtar had ‘forced’ haj pilgrims to get vaccinated.

Former religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar had sued the influencer over the baseless and defamatory allegations made on Facebook. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 An influencer has publicly apologised to former religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar over a defamatory Facebook post published in November.

Ramzi Kamil had suggested that Na’im had “forced” haj pilgrims to be vaccinated before leaving for Saudi Arabia, and added that the vaccines contained substances that were “haram”.

Ramzi, who goes by the name “Rembo Melaka” on Facebook, also claimed that some pilgrims refused to perform their haj because they were required to be vaccinated. This had contradicted Na’im’s claim that such pilgrims could not go because they faced financial constraints.

Naim subsequently lodged a police report, claiming that the statements were malicious and had tarnished his reputation and credibility as a religious affairs minister.

In his statement of claim, Na’im said the Saudi government had enforced a policy that all pilgrims who wished to perform their haj must be vaccinated first.

As such, Na’im contended that Ramzi’s allegation that it was his (Na’im’s) new condition was baseless and defamatory

On Thursday, Ramzi issued an unequivocal and unconditional apology at the Shah Alam High Court and was ordered to publish the apology on his social media accounts.

Judicial commissioner Helmi Hamzah also ordered him to delete the offending posts within 24 hours and to pay costs of RM5,000 within seven days.

Na’im was represented by Aslam Akberdin and Ahmad Redza Akberdin, while Ramzi was represented by Nur Farina Ahmad. - FMT