In her defence filed yesterday at the Penang High Court in response to the suits against her by three senior DAP leaders, the PAS deputy women’s wing chief says the facts were sourced from a book published by the Barisan Nasional (BN’s) communications department as part of the coalition’s 15th general election campaign material.
Mastura also cites the same “reliable” source for her claims that Kit Siang and his son, Guan Eng, who is the DAP chairman, are cousins of the former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, and that Seputeh MP Teresa Kok is a cousin of Betty Chew, Guan Eng’s wife.
Kit Siang, Guan Eng and Kok had claimed in their separate suits that Mastura made defamatory statements about them being related to Chin Peng and Lee, among others. The suits have been consolidated and will be heard together at the Penang High Court.
Case mention has been fixed for Feb 9.
Mastura is alleged to have said the DAP leaders support, practise and spread communist ideology and philosophy. She is alleged to have made the claims during a political talk on Nov 4.
The three politicians stressed that the defendant’s claims are baseless and false with ill-intent because she deliberately associated them with CPM and Chin Peng. They are seeking general, aggravated and exemplary damages, as well as an injunction to prevent her from repeating her claims.
Mastura says the source was an entity that played a key role to communicate BN’s policies and agenda to its members and the rakyat and, thus, she believes the information she obtained from the BN book is legitimate.
She also claims that her comments were made at a closed-door gathering during the Kemaman by-election campaign, which was not meant for publication or to be filmed and circulated online.
“The speech was part of a heated political campaign during the Kemaman by-election. Almost all politicians give speeches touching on the opposing sides, which is normal in Malaysia,” she said in the statement of defence sighted by FMT.
“The context of the speech was to make the voters understand the stand and philosophy of the opposition, in particular the coalition of Pakatan Harapan and BN, in which DAP is the backbone. It was also to counter their claims that PAS was an extremist party that rode on religion.”
She says the context of her speech was to campaign for PAS to win power and enhance Islam in the country, adding that it is her duty to do so as an elected representative.
Citing the defences of fair comment and qualified privilege, Mastura says nothing in her speech had elements of false claims or malicious intent as claimed by the plaintiffs.
As to the viral clip of her speech, she says neither she nor any of her agents had edited or ordered the video to be produced, adding that neither did she own the “@kopitarik24” TikTok handle cited by the plaintiffs.
“I also do not know the owner of the account or (am) related in any way to the person.”
Mastura says she is also not responsible for the publication of her speech in any media outlets and, thus, is not liable for any repercussions from that.
SN Nair will be appearing for the plaintiffs while Messrs Faizi & Associates are representing Mastura.
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram