Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, who is facing defamation suit by Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor for comments related to fuel prices made at a forum, has gone on the offensive.
The PKR secretary-general and Mediarakyat portal owner, Chan Chee Kong, have filed a countersuit against the couple for maliciously attempting to shut them up.
"We feel the defamation suit against Rafizi and Chan is an abuse of process," Rafizi's lawyer Ranjit Singh said.
The two are seeking damages, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.
The lawyer said they also informed High Court judge Datuk Noraini Abdul Rahman during a case management today that the defendants intended to make amendments to their defence and counterclaim.
Noriaini ordered defendants to file the amendments by July 8 and the plaintiffs would submit the reply (to their amended defence and counterclaim) on July 22.
Ranjit said Noraii has fixed another case management on August 5.
The Malaysian Insider on June 5 reported that Rafizi in his defence to the defamation suit said the remarks against Najib and Rosmah were made in jest.
"Those particular words uttered must be understood in the right context. It did not amount to defamation," he said in documents sighted by The Malaysian Insider.
Rafizi said rising fuel prices would allow Rosmah to buy more diamond rings.
Rafizi is also relying on the defence of fair comment and qualified privilege to have the suit dismissed.
The suit against Rafizi was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court registry on March 16 by Messrs Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak, the solicitors for Najib and Rosmah.
Also named as defendant in the suit is Chan.
In their statement of claim, the couple said Rafizi had uttered defamatory remarks relating to rising fuel prices at a forum in Bandar Tun Razak on November 22, 2014.
Najib and Rosmah said Rafizi's speech in a video titled "Kenapa kita pertahan subsidi minyak" (Why we defend petrol subsidies) was recorded by Mediarakyat, and Chan or his assistants uploaded it on YouTube for the world at large to have access.
The video is also on Rafizi's Facebook page.
Najib and Rosmah said Rafizi's speech in the video was clearly intended to defame them.
They said Chan also failed to subscribe to the principles of responsible journalism for his failure to verify the allegation before the video was made available for public consumption.
“The defendants knew that any publication will bring irreparable damage to us and lower our reputation in the minds of the public," the statement of claim said.
Najib and Rosmah are demanding damages deemed fit by the court and a public apology to be published in newspapers and magazines.
They are also demanding that Chan remove the video from YouTube, Mediarakyat and Facebook. – tmi
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.