Tan Sri Joseph Kurup
KUCHING: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) Youth yesterday called on Sabah and Sarawak to stand behind Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup in the defamation case filed by Perkasa against him.
PRS Youth chief Liwan Lagang said Kurup had spoken the truth, thus Kurup deserves their support so that the truth will prevail.
“Kurup’s statements about Ibrahim Ali being an extremist is true. Kurup is saying it to safeguard Malaysia’s harmony. We can’t compromise Malaysia’s harmony for an extremist like Ibrahim Ali.
“Kurup had spoken the minds of Sabahans and Sarawakians. This is what we believe in and we have to make it known to Perkasa by giving Kurup all the moral support we can,” Liwan told The Borneo Post yesterday.
According to him, ‘extremist’ is an apt description for Ibrahim Ali, a term which even Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem would agree to, judging from the fact that Ibrahim was recently denied entry into Sarawak.
“It is Sarawak’s policy to bar entry of political extremists and religious bigots and Ibraham Ali is one of those on the list. So there is nothing wrong to label him as an extremist,” said Liwan, who is also Assistant Minister of Culture and Heritage.
Liwan was responding to the defamation suit filed by Perkasa at the High Court Registry against Kurup on Wednesday.
In its statement of claim, Perkasa alleged that Kurup’s media statement on December 24 last year on the organisation was misleading and defamatory.
Perkasa said Kurup’s statements portrayed the organisation as extremist that used religion to spark violence and cause fear and disunity among the people, thus tarnishing its reputation and image in the eyes of the public.