Najib, Rosmah sue Rafizi for defamation

The suit was filed yesterday through Messrs Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak at the High Court Registry and the writ of summons delivered to the defendants today.

In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs alleged that Mohd Rafizi made a disparaging statement against them at a forum on oil subsidy, at Bandar Tun Razak on Nov 22 last year.

They alleged that Mohd Rafizi's speech was recorded by 'Media Rakyat', and uploaded by Chan or his assistant on Media Rakyat's youtube and portal, titled, 'Rafizi Ramli: Kenapa Kita Pertahankan Subsidi Minyak'.

Najib and Rosmah further alleged that Chan had also shared the recording in Media Rakyat's facebook which could be freely accessed by internet users worldwide.

The plaintiffs also alleged that the recording had been viewed 9,736 times in youtube as of April 15, while there are 356,569 users who are following Rafizi on facebook and 162,118 users who are following Chan.

Najib and Rosmah alleged that Mohd Rafizi had maliciously intended for his statement to be published by the mass media and read by the public.

They alleged that Chan had failed to practise 'responsible journalism' by not verifying or investigating the authenticity of the accusations in the statement before posting them.

"The defendants were aware that reproducing the defamatory statement would severely damage and injure our reputation," alleged the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs are seeking general, aggravated and exemplary damages deemed fit by the court and five per cent annual interest on the costs, from the date of publication of the defamatory statement until disposal of the case.

They are also seeking an injunction to restrain Mohd Rafizi, Chan and their assistant from further publishing defamatory statements against them, as well as an order for the defendants to publish a written apology in the newspapers and magazines.