Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has slapped PKR leader Rafizi Ramli with a legal threat for accusing him of plundering the nation for among others to purchase diamond rings for his wife Rosmah Mansor.

The letter of demand issued by the firm Hafarizam Wan and Aisha Mubarak today stated that the opposition lawmaker had caused the prime minister and his wife “tremendous distress and embarrassment”.

The letter cited excerpts from Rafizi’s speech on fuel prices at an event in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 23, a recording of which was uploaded by Media Rakyat on YouTube.

Among others, Rafizi had said that each month the Umno government saved RM1 billion, which can be used to purchase 20 expensive rings for Rosmah, each costing RM20 million.

The letter dismissed this as “entirely baseless and false” allegations made with the “primary intention of attacking and damaging our clients’ goodwill and reputation for no justifiable reason”.

“In doing so, you were acting with malice,” it read further.

The letter described Rafizi’s speech as defamatory as it accused Najib and Rosmah, among others, of “manipulating the price of petrol for their own benefit”, “spending more than RM20 million of people's monies on a ring”, “stealing the people's monies for their own benefit” and “conspiring against the nation in bad practices”.

“Our clients’ instructions are that the above defamatory statements and such similar statements amount to very serious slander and/or libel against our clients...

“Our clients wish to put on record that several statements have been released in refuting the said allegations, but this incorrect, slanderous and erroneous allegations have been continuously raised by you on several occasions, aimed at embarrassing and defaming our clients,” stated the legal firm.

Rafizi has 14 days from today to issue and publish "a full and unequivocal written apology” and to take down the video, failing which a lawsuit would be filed.

The PKR leader, however, said he was “proud” to have received the legal demand from the prime minister.

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