KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob is suing former Bersatu Wanita chief Anina Saadudin for allegedly defaming him on Facebook and accusing him of being incompetent in discharging his duties during the implementation of the movement control order.
Ismail Sabri, 61, filed the suit in his personal capacity through Messrs Kesavan on March 5 and named Anina, 46, as the sole defendant.
In his statement of claims, Ismail Sabri claimed that Anina had posted 13 defamatory remarks and uploaded a video on her Facebook page, which among others, accused the minister of being incompetent in discharging his duties and implementing strict regulations to combat Covid-19 under the MCO.
He claimed that the 13 remarks made by Anina between February 5 and March 3 were also shared by other Facebook users.
He said the remarks implied that he was just a “puppet” in implementing the prime minister’s orders and that he was an inefficient and incompetent senior minister.
According to Ismail Sabri, due to the defamatory remarks, his reputation was tarnished and the remarks were made with ill intention to hurt and tarnish the plaintiff’s good reputation and image.
As such, he is seeking general, exemplary, and additional damages, with interest, cost, and other reliefs deemed fit by the court.
Ismail Sabri also filed an ex-parte application for an injunction to force the defendant to immediately delete all the remarks from her Facebook page, and also an injunction to restrain her or her representative from making other defamatory remarks on social media sites.
The Bera MP filed the application on grounds that the defendant had constantly, since early February, posted untrue and defamatory remarks about the plaintiff.
He said that even after he lodged a police report on the matter, the defendant had shown no remorse and continued to post 12 defamatory remarks about him on February 13, 17, 18, 19, and 23, which prompted him to send her a letter on February 24, demanding her to immediately delete all the posts.
Ismail Sabri said that not only did his letter of demand go unanswered, the defendant continued to post two more defamatory remarks about him on March 3.
The injunction application was heard before high court judge Datuk Seri Mohd Firuz Jaffril today. – Bernama, March 11, 2021
