Ismail Sabri sues Lokman Adam over defamatory statement on social media

The UMNO vice-president filed the suit in his personal capacity through the legal firm of Messrs Kesavan last Sept 8, naming Lokman, 49, who is a UMNO member, as the sole defendant.

In the statement of claim, Ismail Sabri, 62, stated that Lokman had on Aug 22 made defamatory statements against him in a video, with the title "Bila Presiden UMNO Panggil Tak Datang! Tapi PM Ada Masa Jumpa Mahathir - Lokman Adam" (When Called by UMNO President, He Doesn't Come! But the PM Has Time to See Mahathir - Lokman Adam).

He claimed the malicious, defamatory and untrue statements were uploaded on four social media accounts belonging to the defendant, namely "Lokman Adam" Youtube, "Lokman Noor Adam Official" Facebook, "lokmanooradam" Instagram and "datoklokmanadam" Tik Tok.

According to Ismail Sabri, the words meant, among other things, that he had met with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and planned or intended to plan with the former prime minister and other opposition political parties to remain as prime minister by turning his back and betraying UMNO.

Ismail Sabri claimed that he had never met with Dr Mahathir and other political parties to ensure he remained nor engaged in unprincipled measures to prevent the dissolution of Parliament for a general election to be held so that he could remain as prime minister.

He stated that he had never abused his power as prime minister to interfere with the legal proceedings against Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to ensure that the former prime minister was convicted and subsequently imprisoned.

According to him, as a result of the defamatory words, which he claimed were made with malicious intent, his reputation as a UMNO member, the party's vice-president and as prime minister, as well as his political career, was affected.

The Bera Member of Parliament said a letter of demand, dated Aug 25, was issued for the defendant to delete the video from his social media and issue an apology to the plaintiff, but so far the defendant has failed to do so.

Therefore, Ismail Sabri is seeking general and exemplary damages, as well as interest, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.

Ismail Sabri also filed an ex parte application to obtain an injunction to compel Lokman to delete the videos concerned from his YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts and to prevent him or his representative from making similar statements through social media managed by the defendant.

The application will be heard today before High Court Judicial Commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain.