Najib, Rosmah apply to strike out paragraphs in Nga's defence statement

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor are applying to strike out several paragraphs in the statement of defence of Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming whom they are suing for having posted allegedly defamatory material about them on his Facebook page in March this year.

Lawyer Nor Hazira Abu Haiyan, representing Najib and Rosmah, said this to reporters when the suit came up for mention before High Court deputy registrar Anisah Normah Muhammad Nor in chambers today.

Nga's lawyer, Dennis Goh, was also present. She said the court also set Sept 11 for case management.

Najib, in his personal capacity, and Rosmah filed the suit on June 11, claiming that Nga had posted a status update with a picture of him and his wife on his Facebook page last March 29.

Najib and Rosmah said the picture posted was of them with several Malaysian Cabinet ministers and high-ranking Wisma Putra officials in a hotel room in China.

They said Nga had also published defamatory words against them on his Facebook account which could be accessed by Internet users worldwide.

Najib claimed the defamatory words used implied that he had abused power and mandate as a prime minister for his personal interest or his wife's interest by allowing her to intervene in government affairs.

Rosmah said the words implied that she was a selfish woman who only thought about herself.

They said although the defendant had removed the picture from the Facebook page, it was still accessible on two blogs, which had 25,360,055 and 6,626,986 page views, respectively, as of the date the writ of summons was filed.

Najib and Rosmah are seeking general damages, aggravated damages, exemplary damages, interests, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.

They are also seeking an injunction to restrain the defendant or his assistant or agent from republishing the defamatory words, besides a written apology from the defendant to be published in newspapers and magazines.