Former Economy Minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli has instructed his legal team to begin proceedings against PKR vice-president Datuk Seri R Ramanan over alleged defamatory remarks made during a press conference on Thursday.
Rafizi said the decision followed discussions with his lawyers, who believed there were strong grounds to take legal action against Ramanan.
He alleged that several statements made by Ramanan during the press conference had crossed the legal boundaries of defamation in Malaysia.
“During yesterday’s press conference, Ramanan made various allegations against me, including accusing me of being involved in corruption,” Rafizi said in a Facebook post on Friday.
He added that the move was warranted as Ramanan had continued to avoid answering several allegations concerning him and corruption.
In a related development, Rafizi also proposed that MPs refer Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to Parliament’s Committee of Privileges over what he alleged were false statements made in the Dewan Rakyat.
Rafizi claimed Ramanan’s press conference confirmed that Anwar’s statement in Parliament about legal action taken by Ramanan was inaccurate.
“The press conference confirmed that Ramanan had never taken legal action over my statement naming him as the PKR MP who allegedly received RM9.5 million in bribes to settle a corporate mafia case,” he said.
Rafizi added that Ramanan had reiterated he would not take legal action over the allegation, despite previously challenging anyone linking him to the matter to sue him.
He argued that this contradicted Anwar’s statement in Parliament earlier in the week that Ramanan had initiated court proceedings.
The former Pandan MP maintained that legal action against Ramanan should proceed, saying the minister had yet to respond to several corruption allegations raised against him.
“If Ramanan refuses to sue me over yesterday’s press conference, it opens the way for me to take him to court over the allegations he made,” Rafizi said.
