KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia's opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) MP Nurul Izzah Anwar is suing the Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar and Cabinet minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob for allegedly implying that she had committed treason.
Nurul Izzah alleged that Tan Sri Khalid had on Sunday (Nov 22) falsely uttered slanderous words against her during a press conference at the Bukit Aman police headquarters.
The PKR vice-president said Datuk Seri Ismail, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, had issued a libellous media statement against her on the same day during an event in Bera, Pahang.
She said the statements were issued after her photograph with self-styled Sulu princess Jacel Kiram had been earlier published by the media.
Nurul Izzah said both statements were published by the media where it had allegedly portrayed her as a traitor to the country and that she had committed a serious crime.
Jacel is the daughter of the late self-styled Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III who ordered 200 members of his "Royal Sulu Army" to invade the Sabah town of Lahad Datu in Feb 2013 to stake his claim over the state.
The politician filed the suit at the High Court civil registry in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday (Nov 26) through her lawyers N. Surendran and Latheefa Koya.
In the statement of claim, Nurul Izzah said Khalid's words meant that she was the mastermind behind the Sulu intrusion in Sabah in 2013.
Besides that, she said Ismail's statement had implied that she was involved in terrorism.
She said it had affected her character and reputation causing her to be depressed.
Nurul Izzah is seeking aggravated damages, saying that her reputation as a parliamentarian and well-known politician, had been tarnished.
Apart from that, she is asking for general damages and an injunction to restrain the defendants from publishing any defamatory words against her.
Speaking to reporters here, Surendran said his client filed the libel suit without issuing a letter of demand for both due to the serious accusations made against an MP for treason.
When asked by the media, Nurul Izzah said she filed the claim to defend her good name, saying that "I do not like to be referred to as a traitor".
"I will be going to Bukit Aman on Friday at 4pm with my lawyer R. Sivarasa to show that I am willing to answer all their questions," she added.