KUALA LUMPUR: Former deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim, has sued a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and two individuals over allegations linking her to human trafficking.
The 60-year-old filed the defamation suit through Messrs Akberdin & Co at the Shah Alam High Court on Friday (Sept 9).
She named Malaysian International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) chairman Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim, 45, MHO committee member Azirul Syafiq Sazali, 29, and MHO as the first, second and third defendants, respectively.
In the statement of claim, Mashitah said that Hishamuddin had uploaded video clips on his Facebook account of a media statement with the caption "Sidang Media Berkaitan Aduan Penglibatan Ahli Politik Malaysia Di Dalam Sindiket Pemerdagangan Manusia Berpusat Di Myanmar" on Aug 28 which she claimed contained defamatory statements against her.
Mashitah claimed that on the same day, Azirul Syafiq and MHO posted a written media statement prepared by Hishamuddin on MHO's Facebook account and Azirul Syafiq's TikTok account—which she claimed to be defamatory.
The following day (Aug 29), Hishamuddin uploaded an edited video clip that showed several photos of her face blurred.
Mashitah claimed that the defamatory statements implied that she and her husband, Datuk Abdul Shakor Abu Bakar, were the masterminds of a human trafficking syndicate in Myanmar and involved in criminal activities related to terrorism and transnational crime.
The plaintiff claimed that the impugned statements were malicious, made with ill intent, and constituted false accusations against her.
She is seeking an unequivocal apology from the defendants as well as for them to take down the allegedly defamatory posts seven days after the judgment.
She also seeks general, compensatory, aggravated and exemplary damages from the defendants.
