No more sorry, see you in court, DAP’s Ngeh tells Ismail Sabri
(Malay Mail Online) – Senior Perak DAP leader Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham said today that he will be pressing on with legal action against Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob after the Umno minister refused to apologise for allegedly labelling him as “anti-Islam”.
Ngeh had given a two-day deadline for Ismail Sabri to retract his allegedly defamatory remarks, which has now expired.
“The time given by me to the Agriculture and Agro-based Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to retract and apologise to me and my family for his false accusation that we are anti Islam has lapsed,” the DAP deputy secretary-general said in a statement.
Ngeh reiterated his accusations that Ismail Sabri had in a now-deleted Facebook posting lied when purportedly using the anti-Islam tag on him and his family, and also lied by reportedly claiming to be referring to another Ngeh family.
“I have on 3/2/2015 challenged him to name another Ngeh family that he has known when he made the defamatory statement but until today he has not been able to name one.
“The fact that he has withdrawn his posting and avoided identifying me and my family as his targets are clear admissions of guilt on his part. His actions clearly prove that his statement against me and my family is untrue,” the Perak DAP advisor claimed.
Ngeh today repeated his call for the prime minister to remove Ismail Sabri from Cabinet and went one step further by asking Islamic authorities to “reprimand” the minister for using Islam to “falsely defame” him and his family.
“This is an opportunity for our Islamic authorities to state clearly that Islam is against defaming others and against lying. This is also an opportunity for the Islamic authorities in our country to refute the accusation by some that they only act against those who are of lesser station in our society,” the Beruas MP and Sitiawan assemblyman said.
“The Islamic authorities can also take this opportunity to emphasise the importance of the substantive values taught by Islam apart from the teaching on the appropriate attire to wear and whether a certain food is halal or otherwise. I am of the view that substance is equally if not more important than form,” he added.
The offending remark by Ismail Sabri was part of his controversial alleged Facebook posting on Monday, where he purportedly called Malay consumers to boycott Chinese traders in a bid to pressure them to lower the prices of goods sold.
The Prime Minister’s Office, however, said on Wednesday after a post-Cabinet meeting that Ismail Sabri’s remark was directed at all businesses that refused to lower prices without targeting specific ethnic groups.
The police have launched a probe on Ismail Sabri’s remarks under Section 505B of the Penal Code for making a statement that could cause “fear, alarm and disrupt public tranquility” and is expected to record his statement next Monday.
