IT'S A MORAL VICTORY - Rafizi, Zuraidah JUBILANT as Shahrizat drops RM100mil suit

KUALA LUMPUR - PKR leaders Rafizi Ramli and Zuraida Kamaruddin were jubilant after Umno women's chief Shahrizat Jalil agreed to drop her RM100 million lawsuit against them for allegedly defaming her over the RM250 million NFC debacle.

"The withdrawal by Shahrizat Jalil is a moral victory & vindication that what Zuraida and I exposed were of public interest and backed up by facts," Rafizi said on Twitter.

According to lawyers, the "ceasefire" came about after all parties mutually to stand down and terminate the suit.

Notwithstanding, Rafizi who is the MP for Pandan made it clear that he would still continue to blow the whistle on the NFC or National Feedlot Corporation scandal as and when he had information on it.

"I will continue to investigate and search for the accountability in the NFC issue even though this case has been dropped," Rafizi told reporters at the courthouse.

Counter-sue

Rafizi and Zuraida, the MP for Ampang, had agreed to withdraw their counter claim against Shahrizat.

In dropping her suit, Shahrizat who was the former women, family and community development minister, did not ask for cost and nor liberty to file afresh. Neither did Rafizi and Zuraidah.

Today's agreement was recorded before High Court judicial commissioner Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera in chambers.

The defamation suit was filed by Shahrizat on January 19, 2012, who claimed that Zuraida and Rafizi had made defamatory statements against her in relation to the failed NFC project.

To write a book

Rafizi also announced his plan to write a book on the RM250 million NFC scandal, saying he hoped to inspire more Malaysians to join the fight to end corruption.

He said the book would reveal what happened behind the scenes of the high-profile cattle farming project, which he had linked to Shahrizat's family.

“I will be writing the book because the evolution of NFC scandal involved a lot of people, the information did not come from one source,” Rafizi said.

The book will focus more on the human aspects of the NFC matter including the contribution of “a lot of faceless Malaysians”, rather than the facts of the scandal.

It will also contain previously undisclosed information as well as the “personal experiences” of those involved in exposing the NFC scandal.

“What people do not know is the human aspect behind the scenes — who stumbled upon it? How we did it? How we concealed identities, all these little things,” said the Pandan MP.

Encourage whistle blowers

According to Rafizi, who founded the National Oversight and Whistleblowers Centre or NOW, the book was meant to assure the public that it is worth taking a risk to expose corruption and that they do not have to fear lawsuits over their whistleblowing activities.

“Usually as in the case of NFC, almost everyone who contributed to it was out of reach as far as lawsuits were concerned. Only two or three of us were within reach," he said.

“People do not have to be afraid because finally it’s only two to three people who are visible to the public, who will have to take the risk.

“And because of that, I think everybody should try their best to come in and help and understanding what really happens behind the scenes in NFC hopefully will educate Malaysians about what they can do to combat corruption."

According to Zuraida, they hoped to produce the book in both English and Bahasa Malaysia so as to reach both urban and rural readership.

Rafizi and NOW director Akmal Nasir

Malaysia Chronicle