KUALA LUMPUR: Former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof should be man enough to be responsible for the statement he made over the actions of cosmetics entrepreneur Muhammad Sajjad Kamaruzzaman, or better known as Sajat, who performed the umrah (minor pilgrimage) dressed in telekung (female prayer garments) earlier this year.
The matter was conveyed by the three defendants – Harakah reporter Aziz Muda; its editor-in-chief Wan Nordin Wan Yaacob; and its online portal harakahdaily.net operator Galeri Media Serbanika Sdn Bhd – in their statement of defence filed on Sept 28.
In the statement, the three defendants said Mujahid should not be offended by the criticisms hurled at him by the public, especially the media practitioners, in connection with the issue.
They also claimed that they had discharged their duties as reporter and media practitioners to write the article based on the statements issued by Mujahid, as the plaintiff in the defamation case.
“The defendants asserted that they were under political, moral and social obligations to disseminate the different views of the people pertaining to the issue as it also involved the concepts of Rahmatan Lil Alamin (Mercy to all creations) and Amar Maaruf Nahi Mungkar (enjoining good and preventing evil),” the statement said.
According to the three defendants, they never had any malicious intent against the former minister in the publication of the article as it was based on fair comments.
The statement of defence was made available to the media by their lawyer Yusfarizal Yussoff yesterday.
Meanwhile, lawyer Noorazmir Zakaria representing Mujahid, told reporters that the next case management was set on Oct 23 via e-review and that the plaintiff had also responded to the defendants’ statement of defence last Friday.
On Aug 12, Mujadi filed the defamation suit and named Aziz, Wan Nordin, Galeri Media and the newspaper’s printer, Percetakan Turbo (M) Sdn Bhd, as the first to fourth defendants.
In his statement of claim, Mujahid claimed that, on Feb 7, Aziz, Wan Nordin and Galeri Media had written and published defamatory words against him on harakahdaily.net via an article titled “Sajat: Mujahid dan K’jaan PH patut dipersalahkan” and another one titled “Keterlanjuran Sajat kesilapan Mujahid dan kerajaan PH” published on Harakah newspaper dated Feb 10-13.
The Parit Buntar member of Parliament said the defamatory words implied that he was an irresponsible man for allowing the public, especially Muslims, to engage in Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transexual (LGBT) activities and that he was the main reason for Sajat to wear telekung and behave like a woman while performing umrah in Makkah.
Mujahid claimed that the defamatory words had tarnished his dignity, credibility and reputation as the minister in charge of religious affairs at the material time.
Mujahid is seeking a court order to compel the defendants to make a public apology to him, which is also to be uploaded and published by local Malay newspapers within 14 days of the date of judgment.
“The defendants must also retract the articles and give an undertaking to not write and/or to report further defamatory statements or words against him,” he said in the statement of claim.
He is also seeking general, exemplary and aggravated damages, as well as other cost and relief deemed fit by the court with five per cent interest. – Bernama