KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Lokman Noor Adam denied slandering Khairy Jamaluddin through the posting of two videos and pictures of the Health Minister on his Facebook.

Instead, he said it was to seek the Health Minister to explain to the public on COVID-19 vaccine as the matter was of public interest.

Lokman, 49, through a defence statement filed yesterday (March 2), claimed he was not against the COVID-19 vaccination and the statements he made were fair comments and with justification.

"I emphasise that the statements being questioned by the plaintiff (Khairy) are not defamatory as there are only to urge him to provide clarification and explanation on a viral issue of video footage showing expired vaccine given to the vaccine recipient," as stated in the defence statement over a suit filed by Khairy.

Lokman claimed that he had a social and moral responsibility to inform the public about the vaccine.

On Jan 25, Khairy, 46, who filed the suit in a personal capacity, claimed that Lokman had defamed him through two videos and pictures which were uploaded on Lokman Noor Adam Official's Facebook page on Jan 6 and making statements through two live posts on Facebook and 'Lokman Adam' through YouTube on Jan 10.

Khairy claimed that the libelous statements implied that he had lied to and cheated the public, by claiming he had been given the COVID-19 vaccine and received a booster dose as well as falsified information on the vaccination status.

He claimed that the defamatory postings had severely tarnished his reputation and integrity, thus, reducing the public's trust and confidence in him, either through his personal or professional capacity in the eyes of the public.

Last Feb 3, the High Court allowed Khairy's application for an ex-parte injunction, among others, for the defendant to delete the statement and video along with captions, titles and comments within 24 hours as well as an injunction to prevent the defendant from republishing the postings.

On Feb 17, the court also allowed Khairy's application for the ex-parte injunction that had been granyted to him to be extended until the inter-parte injunction hearing on May 10.

-- BERNAMA