Najib threatens to sue Tony Pua
Pua has to comply with Najib’s six-point letter of demand or face the consequences.
Lim KayKay, Free Malaysia Today
Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua has confirmed that he has been served with a letter of demand for allegedly defaming Prime Minister and Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak in a YouTube video, Tony Pua: Najib is creating the biggest scandal ever in the history of Malaysia.
“My lawyer, Gobind Singh Deo, is looking into the matter and would respond accordingly,” said Pua.
The letter was served by Messrs. Hafarizam Wan and Aisha Mubarak, acting on behalf of Najib.
There are six elements in the letter of demand: stop it immediately; retract all allegations; withdraw offending material; apologize; promise not to do it again; and offer suitable compensation.
In the event of failure to comply with the contents of the letter of demand, the injured party would reserve the right to commence legal proceedings including applying for an ex-parte injunction to halt further attacks.
The video was recorded during a Democratic Action Party (DAP) fund-raising dinner on Nov 3 in Petaling Jaya and uploaded by Media Rakyat.
It refers to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a sovereign wealth fund under the Ministry of Finance which is headed by Najib.
Briefly, the letter of demand said that Pua had implied in the video that the Prime Minister and Finance Minister was not a “competent leader; is cruel, harsh, autocratic and not open to criticism; is tyrannical and oppressive and has created the biggest scandal in the country.”
Pua’s statement, the letter continued, had the meaning that Najib had “conspired against the country in bad practices; is a corrupt leader, robbed and misused the people’s money and abused his power.”
“Contrary to your defamatory statements above, our client (Najib) being the chairman of the board of advisors of 1MDB only renders advice to the board which is tasked with the management and operation of 1MDB, not a tyrannical and oppressive autocratic who is not open to criticism and shuns criticism, not a leader involved in corrupt practices and not a leader who robs the people’s monies,” the letter continued.
