KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 — Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai insisted today that he was merely making fair comment in his article on Datuk Ibrahim Ali’s call to burn bibles, as the Star Publications chief executive filed to strike out the Perkasa president’s defamation suit against him.
Wong said in his application that the Perkasa chief’s civil suit against him was “scandalous, frivolous and an abuse of the court” as his allegedly offending column entry published on November 2 last year was merely an honest comment.
The case was also unsustainable as the defences of justification, fair comment and/or qualified privilege were bound to succeed, added Wong, 53.
Wong, who is also Star Publications (M) Bhd group managing director and former group chief editor of English daily The Star, said he believed the content of his article was true in substance and fact and not defamatory of Ibrahim.
On December 26 last year, Ibrahim filed a civil suit against The Star and Wong for defamation in the latter’s opinion piece on the “bible-burning” issue involving the Perkasa chief.
Ibrahim claimed that the article had implied that he was a religious extremist, stupid, belittled Christianity and that he should be arrested and charged under the Sedition Act 1948.
The former MP is seeking general, aggravated and exemplary damages as well as an injunction to stop the defendants from publishing any statements disparaging and defaming him.
In a statement of defence filed earlier, both Star Publications and Wong denied that the words in the article were published falsely or maliciously.
They added that they had a legal, social and moral duty to publish the article in response to an earlier statement by the Attorney-General’s Chambers to justify its decision not to pursue action against Ibrahim for calling to burn the bible on January 19, 2013.
