KUCHING, April 3 — Santubong Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar today issued a Letter of Demand to Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen over remarks claimed to be defamatory in nature.
Wan Junaidi’s counsel Wilfred Yap hand-delivered the letter to Chong’s legal office this afternoon.
“Wan Junaidi has given Chong not later than 5pm on April 8, 2019 to respond. In the absence of a favourable response, Wan Junaidi shall be constrained to commence legal action for defamation,” Yap said in a press statement.
He said Chong’s alleged remarks published in a local newspaper under the heading “Chong says MA63 committee reviewing special grants to Sarawak, Sabah” on April 1 were defamatory to Wan Junaidi.
Yap said Chong, who is also the Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, was said to have said concerning Wan Junaidi: “A fair comment to such an act from a person of his standing is that this is hypocrisy of the highest degree.”
“The allegations made by Chong are completely untrue and constituted a grave libel of Wan Junaidi,” Yap said, explaining why he was instructed to issue a Letter of Demand to the deputy minister.
He said Wan Junaidi wants Chong to unequivocally withdraw the remarks constituting the libel and to publish an apology in an English, a Chinese and a Bahasa Malaysia newspapers.
Yap said Chong must also provide an undertaking not to publish the offending remarks or any similar allegations.
“He must also compensate Wan Junaidi for the serious injury to his reputation and feelings which he has suffered in consequence of the publication of the said words,” Yap said.
