Sue me, Karpal tells ‘inconsequential’ Zaid
By Teoh El Sen, Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: DAP chairman Karpal Singh is not perturbed by the prospect of being sued by People’s Welfare Party (Kita) president Zaid Ibrahim.
Casting aspersions on his reputation and describing the former law minister as an “inconsequential” character, Karpal, a renowned criminal lawyer himself, warned Zaid of the “consequences” in taking him to court.
“Zaid is at liberty to sue me. But he must be prepared to face the consequences of placing himself in the witness box,” said the veteran politician in a media statement.
As a lawyer, Karpal said Zaid should be aware that in a defamation proceeding, one party would be contending that his or her reputation had been lowered in public self esteem.
“To succeed (in the suit), one must prove, as a prerequisite, that he has a subsisting good reputation and this is the risk Zaid must be prepared to take,” added the Bukit Gelugor MP.
Karpal also declined to respond to Zaid’s challenge to counter sue him, saying: “I regret that I cannot accept Zaid’s invitation to sue him for the allegations he made against me yesterday. He is too inconsequential for me to spend labour and effort to do so.”
Karpal bitten by ‘snake’ jibe
However, the DAP leader criticised Zaid for calling him a “snake” for representing Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim in the latter’s ongoing second sodomy trial.
“Zaid should not predicate his threat to sue me by hurling unbecoming language likening me to a snake… Zaid should be professional in the use of language,” he said.
Karpal explained that when Anwar was in government in 1997, he (Karpal) was approached by the complainant Azizan Abu Bakar over the sodomy allegation against Anwar (during his first trial).
“I did at that time, as an opposition MP, ask that the allegation be investigated,” he said.
He said later former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad had publicly defended Anwar (who was then deputy prime minister), saying that attempts were being made to unfairly implicate his deputy and there was no basis to the allegation.
He added the then attorney-general, the late Mohtar Abdullah, had also cleared Anwar of the allegation.
Karpal said he was invited by Anwar when he was charged for sodomy again last year to join his defence team.
“… and I am presently defending him in the second sodomy charge he is facing… the fact that Anwar wants me to be his defence counsel, despite my position against him when he was in government,clearly, shows he has confidence in me to effectively represent him,” he added.
