Klang MP sues Firdaus Wong over social media posts

KUALA LUMPUR: Klang member of Parliament (MP) V. Ganabatirau has filed a defamation suit against preacher Firdaus Wong over social media posts concerning his remarks on the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) programme.

The suit was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday.

In his statement of claim, Ganabatirau said he met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter's visit to Malaysia on Feb 8 and raised concerns among Malaysians of Indian descent about procedural difficulties in applying for OCI status.

He said he had asked India to consider relaxing the requirements for eligible Malaysians of Indian descent in the public interest.

Ganabatirau alleged that Wong published the posts on July 28, questioning his motives for raising the issue and linking the OCI programme to questions of citizenship and national loyalty.

He took issue with the post's closing sentence, "Ganabatirau is loyal to Malaysia", which he claimed was used sarcastically.

Ganabatirau said the posts had damaged his reputation, integrity, credibility and dignity.

He further alleged that Wong had not retracted or removed the posts, corrected the impression created or apologised despite receiving a notice of demand dated Aug 4.

According to the court documents, the Facebook post received about 963 reactions, 207 comments and 139 shares, while the Instagram post attracted about 1,525 likes and 163 comments.

Ganabatirau is seeking general, aggravated and exemplary damages, as well as a permanent injunction to prevent Wong from republishing the statements or making similar allegations against him on social media or other platforms.