PKR vice-president and secretary-general Rafizi Ramli has filed a counter-claim against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on the suit by the two against him for his “diamond ring” jibe.

The counter-claim Rafizi filed on May 29 states that he had been victimised by the PM and Rosmah, who filed the suit against him for his criticisms of the fuel subsidy and the federal government.

“The present suit represents an attempt by Najib and Rosmah to stifle and stymie legitimate political discourse and is an abuse of process. Hence, I have suffered damages following the action of the plaintiffs,” Rafizi says in the counter-claim.

He is seeking general damages, costs and other relief that the court may grant him.

Besides this, Rafizi ( photo ), who is also the MP for Pandan, is seeking to amend his statement of defence.

The case came up for case management today before Justice Noraini Abdul Rahman, who fixed Aug 5 as the next date for case management.

Lawyer Choo Shi Jin appeared for Najib and Rosmah.

Najib and Rosmah filed their suit against Rafizi and Chan Chee Kong, who is the owner of the Media Rakyat YouTube channel, claiming that Rafizi had defamed them at a forum last November by stating that fuel prices were maintained to allow Rosmah to buy more diamond rings.

In their suit, filed by the law firm Hafarizam, Wan Aisha and Mubarak, Najib and Rosmah are seeking general, exemplary and aggravated damages and costs.

They are also seeking an injunction to bar Rafizi, or his agents, from repeating the said defamatory words, and an apology.