COMMUNICATIONS and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil is suing three people, including blogger Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, better known as Papagomo, for defamation after they accused him of giving a political talk in a mosque in Rawang, Selangor, recently.

The other two named by the Lembah Pantai MP are independent speaker Ahmad Dusuki Abd Rani and the owner of the Facebook account ‘N13 Kuang’, Mohd Fauzan Madzlan.

Fahmi’s lawyer, Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi, said the suits were filed on September 5 at the Kuala Lumpur High Court through Messrs Asheeq Ali & Company.

Based on the statement of claim, Fahmi said the three defendants had defamed by accusing him of campaigning in a mosque in the run-up to the recent state elections and had gone against the Selangor sultan’s decree.

He claimed that the accusations were made on Wan Azri’s Tik Tok and Facebook accounts on August 1. Fauzan had made similar allegations in his Facebook account and Dusuki, in his Facebook and Instagram accounts on July 31.

Fahmi said the slanderous statements were baseless and the Selangor Islamic Religious Council had confirmed that he did not give any political speech, as alleged by the defendants.

He also claimed that the statements were made with the aim of smearing his image and gaining cheap publicity. They were also meant to tarnish his reputation as an MP and a minister.

He said letters of demand had been sent to the trio demanding that they retract the statements, pay damages and publish an apology to him. However, they failed to complied.

Fahmi said the statements can still be found on the defendants’ social media accounts.

Fahmi is seeking general damages, aggravated or exemplary damages and an injunction to prevent the defendants from repeating or causing the re-publication of the defamatory statements.

He is also seeking a public apology that must be published in all media and for the defendants to retract their statements.

The suits against Dusuki and Fauzan have been set for case management before senior assistant registrar Nur Shasha Hidayah Nor Azahar on October 5, while the suit involving Wan Muhammad Azri is set for case management before deputy registrar Aisyaf Falina Abdullah on October 9. – Bernama, September 7, 2023.