Netherlands holiday picture is an old one - Khairuddin

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Khairuddin Aman Razali has denied going on holiday to the Netherlands when the recovery movement control order (MCO) was in force, as reported by a news portal.

The Kuala Nerus MP said the picture displayed in the report, of his wife and himself in the Netherlands, was an old photograph which was taken in 2016.

‘’I did not go to the Netherlands lately (but I did visit) in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 for other projects, and not during this recovery MCO, I only went to Turkey during the recovery MCO.

‘’As far as I can remember, the picture was (taken) in 2016 when I went to the Netherlands to meet with officers of the International Crime Court to take Israel to court in a criminal case against Palestine.

‘’As a result of a meeting in 2018, I went again in May 2019 for a second negotiation and now it is in the process of taking the case to court,’’ he told reporters after launching the Perak level RRIMNIAGA today.

Khairuddin was commenting on a report which displayed a picture of his wife and himself with a windmill, which is synonymous with the Netherlands, as a backdrop.

He stressed that he would take legal action against the media organisation for making a false report.

‘’Anybody who concocts fake news on the Internet will be receiving a letter of summons from my lawyer.

‘’Today, I ordered my lawyer to sue a news company which made false news about me and my wife going to the Netherlands. I hope no more reporters will make fake news,’’ he said.

Regarding the investigation concerning a report on flouting the mandatory quarantine order, Khairuddin said he was still waiting for developments from the police.

The PAS man faced public criticisms and calls for him to step down as minister for failure to comply with mandatory quarantine after returning from Turkey in July.

Bukit Aman, prior to this, had opened an investigation paper against the minister and 27 police reports were received on the matter.

- Bernama