KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has filed a defamation suit against Pendang MP Datuk Awang Solahuddin Hashim this afternoon.
Anwar’s lawyer Datuk S. N. Nair confirmed this to Bernama, saying the suit was filed at 12.06pm today.
Among the claims are general damages and an injunction against Awang from publishing the said or any similar defamatory words.
On February 22, The Vibes reported that Awang had three days to apologise for his alleged defamatory comments made to the press outside Parliament, which accused the prime minister of selective prosecution that was allegedly worse than when former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was in power.
The letter of demand also cited Awang’s statements which claimed that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) prosecution of former Bersatu information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who is charged for receiving RM6.9 million in bribes, is the beginning of Anwar’s “games”.
Two days later Anwar sent Awang another letter of demand – this time over alleged defamatory comments in a TikTok video.
According to the letter of demand sighted by The Vibes, it referred to a video uploaded by TikTok user @asriasri64chanel containing footage of Awang speaking to reporters at the Dewan Rakyat lobby on February 21.
In the video uploaded a day after Awang spoke to the press, the Pendang MP told reporters that Anwar was appointed prime minister by illegal means.
In the demand letter, Anwar’s lawyers reminded Awang that the king had exercised his constitutional powers legally when appointing Anwar as prime minister, warning that his comments could be construed as questioning the monarch’s wisdom.
Anwar had initiated legal actions against other politicians for defamatory and slanderous remarks they issued, most notably against former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who accused the former of pocketing RM15 million as Selangor’s economic adviser.
Others to have been in the firing line include Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, Perak PAS commissioner Razman Zakaria, Baling MP Hassan Saad, and Kuala Terengganu MP Datuk Ahmad Amzad Hashim.
Perikatan Nasional supporters have since begun describing Anwar as “Bapa Saman Negara” (Father of Lawsuits). – The Vibes, March 3, 2023
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