KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — Shah Alam Member of Parliament Khalid Abdul Samad has sued former Selangor PAS commissioner Datuk Dr Hassan Mohamed Ali for defamation.

The case centred on alleged illicit sale of alcohol and existence of gambling outlets and massage parlours in Selangor four years ago.

Khalid who is currently a Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) committee member, filed the suit at the High Court registrar’s office here on April 29 through Faiz Fadzil & Co, naming Hassan as the defendant.

In his statement of claim, the plaintiff claimed Hassan who was at the time, a Selangor State Government Exco uttered defamatory words during a talk at Dewan Rukun Tetangga Seksyen 17, Shah Alam, in 2013.

He claimed the video of the speech was later edited and uploaded on Youtube, which could be easily accessed by the public.

Khalid also claimed that the words spoken by Hassan were baseless, untrue and damaging to his reputation, image and good name as a PAS central committee member.

The plaintiff also alleged that Hassan’s defamatory statement implied that he was an anti-Islam leader and betrayed the religion by defending the sale of alcohol, the setting up of gambling centres and massage parlours which were against the teachings of Islam.

He is seeking general and aggravated damages, a court order prohibiting the defendant or his representative from repeating the words; costs, interests as well as other relief deemed fit by the court.

In his statement of defence filed on June 27, Hassan claimed the words he used in his talk were a general phenomenon in the political scenario in Malaysia where parties criticise each other for their own political interests.

He said the words used to refer to Khalid as Shah Alam member of parliament were fair comment.

High Court Judge Datuk Hue Siew Kheng fixed Aug 24 for case management after it was mentioned in his presence today. Khalid was represented by counsel Muhammad Faiz Fadzil while Hassan, by counsel Elina Abdul Rashid. — Bernama