Ling ready to take on Najib in court
Published on: Thursday, October 08, 2015
Kuala Lumpur: Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik said he will not apologise over alleged remarks suggesting that Datuk Seri Najib Razak misappropriated public funds, and instead told the Prime Minister to proceed with his threatened defamation lawsuit. The former MCA president also expressed surprise by Najib's letter demanding a public apology from him as well as how the contents were leaked to the press. "I say to the Prime Minister: if you choose to sue me, I will defend myself. In all humility, I accept your challenge.
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"I look forward to seeing the Prime Minister take the witness stand, as he no doubt would do if he says his reputation is at stake," Dr Ling said in a personally-signed statement Wednesday. On Monday, a letter of demand that Najib's lawyers sent to Dr Ling over his reported remarks made during the weekend was leaked publicly. Former Transport Minister Dr Ling is no stranger to the inside of courtrooms, having been in and out of them after he had been charged and finally acquitted of defrauding the government over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ). Najib on Tuesday confirmed that he will sue Dr Ling for defamation if the latter does not apologise and retract the remarks.
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In the letter from the Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak law firm that represents Najib, the Prime Minister accused Dr Ling of defamation in remarks by the latter published in a news report on Saturday. The article in question was one titled "MCA's Liong Sik joins call for Najib's ouster for putting people's money in his own pocket" published by Malay Mail Online during the weekend. In it, Dr Ling reportedly expressed agreement with former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's demand for Najib to resign and claimed the Prime Minister "has taken people's money and put it in his own personal accounts."
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