KJ sues Jamal Yunos, demands RM1 million

KUALA LUMPUR - Former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin has filed a defamation suit in the High Court here against Sungai Besar Umno division chief Datuk Seri Jamal Md Yunos over a statement issued in a press conference during the Umno General Assembly (PAU) held last January.

It is in relation to the allegations of ‘ghost voters' brought in to pass the additional motion to prevent Umno's top two posts from being contested.

Khairy or better known as KJ, as the plaintiff filed the suit on Wednesday through the Aizat Izuan Shakeel Law Firm naming Jamal as the defendant.

The former Rembau MP demanded a special damages of RM1 million from Jamal.

Khairy also requested the defendant to be ordered to issue a public apology on his Facebook account 'DS Jamal Yunos Official', Tik Tok account with the handle 'jamal_yunos' and all major newspapers in Malay, English and Chinese.

Khairy also asked the defendant to delete the statement on his social media accounts immediately from the date of prosecution.

In his statement of claim, Khairy said Jamal had held a press conference at the World Trade Center (WTC) in Kuala Lumpur during PAU which was attended by media practitioners, Umno representatives, members and leaders of the party.

The plaintiff claimed Jamal had uploaded a conference video entitled ‘I hope Khairy is disciplined by the Umno Disciplinary Board after issuing reckless statements and embarrassing Umno #UmnoBeforeNowAndForever' on his social media account on Jan 14 and 15.

He said the name Khairy Jamaluddin is clearly written in the title and in the content of the video.

He claimed that the slanderous statement implied that he is a leader with no integrity or credibility to lead and is involved with corruption crimes.

It was also implied that he had used bribery to create division among party members for his personal gain.

Moreover, he said the defendant's statement implied that the plaintiff is not qualified to be a leader and is not loyal to the party and other leaders.

Khairy claimed that he was subject to harrassment, hostility and public humiliation due to Jamal's statement.

The plaintiff also stated that the defamatory statement also caused him to suffer losses, tarnish his image, credibility and reputation.

The High Court then set the case to be mentioned before Deputy Registrar Nik Nur Amalina Mat Zaidan, on Tuesday.