Prime Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim is suing Kedah’s Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Muhammad over a defamatory speech that claimed the PM is a liar who abuses his power and position.
The speech was given during the GE15 election campaign talk in Tambun, Perak on November 13, where Sanusi, who is also the chairman of Perikatan Nasional (PN) in Kedah gave a campaign talk in support of the PN candidate in Tambun, Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu.
Anwar said that the speech, which was also broadcasted live on Faizal’s Facebook page claimed that the PM has betrayed the rakyat’s mandate in addition to being a criminal, although a full pardon has been granted by the Yang Dipertuan Agong at the time. As the plaintiff, Anwar said,
“The defamatory statement has tarnished my reputation and credibility as an Islamic leader.”
Not only that but Anwar added that the slanderous statement has allowed parts of the community to ridicule and humiliate him, which has harmed his image as the head of Pakatan Harapan (PH), Tambun’s MP, PM10, as well as the finance minister.
In the video, Sanusi also said that he couldn’t imagine what would happen to the country if PH became the government for 5 years following their victory in GE14. He also reminded the people that the first thing that PH did after becoming the government was to release the prisoner (Anwar).
Anwar filed the defamation suit through Messrs. SN Nair & Partner at the Alor Setar High Court yesterday (December 13), and named Sanusi as the sole defendant. Through his lawyer, PM demanded the defendant to withdraw his statement, apologise, promise not to repeat it, and pay damages. You can watch and listen to the full speech below.
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Posted by Faizal Azumu on Sunday, November 13, 2022
However, Utusan reported that Sanusi responded and expressed an unequivocal acknowledgment of the facts in the speech. Just last night, Sanusi posted on his Facebook account and said “I’ll see you in court. Let’s talk about history”, to which he did not elaborate further.
Also read: Faizal Azumu: Anwar’s Gov’t is Not a Unity Gov’t, But a Political Arrangement With BN
