KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here Friday (May 16) allowed Tan Sri Razarudin Husain's application to commence a third committal proceeding against blogger Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris for violating the terms of a public apology made previously to the Inspector-General of police.
The application is over the publication of a video by Wan Muhammad Azri last May 1, two days after he issued an unreserved apology to Razarudin Husain for making defamatory and demeaning remarks against the IGP.
The case is related to an RM3mil lawsuit filed by Razarudin against Wan Muhammad Azri, also known as Papagomo, over alleged defamation, which also involved Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Judicial Commissioner (JC) Gan Techiong allowed the ex-parte application after hearing the submissions by Razarudin’s lawyer, Raam Kumar.
"The inter-parte hearing for the committal order is set for June 30, and the defendant's presence is mandatory," he said.
On May 9, JC Gan had also set the same date (June 30) for the inter-parte (both parties) hearing of the second committal order.
Based on the notice of the third committal application filed at the High Court yesterday (May 15), Razarudin is seeking an order against Wan Muhammad Azri for contempt of court over the publication of a video at 8.30pm on May 1 on TikTok (Papa Azri) and YouTube (Sir Azri).
He said the publication of the video shows that Wan Muhammad Azri did not feel remorse for violating the court injunction, and his apology in court on April 30 was simply to give a false impression that he felt remorse.
Razarudin said it also gave the impression that Wan Muhammad Azri had succeeded in deceiving the court into accepting his apology on April 30.
He said it also gave the impression that he had malicious intent to commit Wan Muhammad Azri to Sungai Buloh Prison.
"The statement made by the defendant in the video is contrary to the written and oral statement of apology that was agreed upon and read out before the court on April 30, as in the committal order," stated Razarudin in the application.
On Feb 10, the court granted permission for Razarudin to commence the first committal proceedings against Wan Muhammad Azri for allegedly failing to comply with the injunction order on Jan 10 by posting about Razarudin on the YouTube, TikTok, X and Telegram applications.
However, on April 30, Wan Muhammad Azri issued an unreserved apology to Razarudin for violating the injunction order.
The injunction prohibits Wan Muhammad Azri or his agents from publishing or disseminating defamatory content in any form concerning Razarudin, whether in his official capacity as IGP or as an individual. This includes written, verbal, videos, online or instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram
The court also ordered Wan Muhammad Azri to retract and delete videos posted on Dec 14,15, 20 and 22 last year on his YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Telegram and X accounts, which were deemed defamatory. - Bernama
