Fahmi sues Papagomo, 2 others for defamation

Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil filed lawsuits against three individuals - including blogger Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, better known as Papagomo, for allegedly accusing him of giving a political talk in a mosque in Rawang, Selangor.

The other two defendants named by the Lembah Pantai MP are independent speaker Ahmad Dusuki Abd Rani and the owner of the Facebook account “N13 Kuang”, Mohd Fauzan Madzlan.

Lawyer Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi, representing Fahmi, told Bernama that the three suits were filed on Sept 5 at the High Court through Messrs Asheeq Ali & Company.

Based on the statement of claim, Fahmi said the three defendants had published defamatory words by accusing him of abusing a place of worship, which is a mosque, to campaign for an election and had acted contrary to the orders by Selangor ruler.

Fahmi claimed that the defamatory words were posted on Wan Muhammad Azri's TikTok and Facebook accounts on Aug 1, while on Fauzan's Facebook account and Dusuki's Facebook and Instagram accounts on July 31.

According to Fahmi, the slanderous statements were baseless and the Selangor Islamic Religious Council had confirmed that he did not give any political speech as accused by the defendants.

He also claimed the defamatory statements were aimed at defaming his good name in order to gain cheap publicity or create a sensation in the national political arena, as well as to tarnish his reputation as an MP and minister.

Fahmi said letters of demand had been sent to the three individuals for them to withdraw the defamatory statements, pay damages and publish an apology to him, but none had done as requested.

According to Fahmi, the three defendants still maintained the slanderous statements on their social media pages.

As such, he is seeking general damages, aggravated or exemplary damages, and an injunction to prevent all the defendants from repeating or causing the re-publication of the defamatory statements.

He is also seeking the three defendants to withdraw the defamatory statement from their social media accounts and make an apology through all mass media and online media, where the content of the apology must be agreed upon by him.

The suits against Dusuki and Fauzan have been set for case management before senior assistant registrar Nur Shasha Hidayah Nor Azahar on Oct 5, while the suit involving Wan Muhammad Azri is set on Oct 9 before deputy registrar Aisyaf Falina Abdullah.

- Bernama

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