‘See you in court’, The Star CEO tells Ibrahim Ali

(The Malay Mail) – The Star’s chief executive officer Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai has refused to be cowed by the impending defamation suit against him by Datuk Ibrahim Ali, telling the Malay rights leader yesterday, “I will see him in court”.

The Star Online reported last night that Ibrahim sent a letter of demand to Wong last month, claiming that the newspaper CEO’s article titled “A mind-boggling spin” published on November 2, which questioned the lack of prosecution against Ibrahim’s alleged threat to burn Bibles, contained defamatory statements.

“I will see him in court. No one can stop the voice of moderation and reasoning. Malaysia has no room for extremism,” Wong was quoted saying.

The Star Online said Ibrahim was quoted by an unnamed online news portal as saying that the response he had received to his letter of demand sounded like a sermon.

“I am not saying he is wrong, but I want the court to decide if his statement was defamatory,” the leader of the Malay rights group was quoted saying.

Ibrahim’s alleged call in January last year to burn Malay-language Bibles containing the word “Allah” had raised a furore with lawmakers and civil groups who called for the Perkasa president to be charged with sedition.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers, however, said last October that charges would not be pressed against Ibrahim because his remarks lacked a “seditious tendency” and were meant to defend the sanctity of Islam, not to incite religious disharmony.