Azmin rapped for ‘insulting’ ulama

ALOR SETAR: Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali found himself on the receiving end for “insulting” PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

Selangor PAS ulama delegate Bakri Nik Mat said Azmin’s use of the word lebai was an insult to the ulama.

“It is okay to slight the feelings of a friend or an opponent but if it comes in the form of an insult against our president, the ulama from Selangor cannot accept this,” he said during the debate yesterday.

Bakri said this was why PAS in Selangor had called for the party to immediately cut ties with PKR.

Azmin, who is PKR deputy president, had tweeted recently about a tok lebai (a slang for a holy man) who wanted to take over Selangor.

In another development, Abdul Hadi has filed a defamation suit against Sarawak Report’s Claire Rewcastle Brown for suggesting that he had received a bribe from the Barisan Nasional government.

He filed the suit dated April 21 in the London High Court, seeking damages and an injunction order over an article published on the Sarawak Report website in August last year.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, PAS secretarygeneral Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan said: “Such allegations and claims of corruption are completely untrue, and clearly seek to damage the reputation of someone like the PAS president, who has been committed to the democratic process for the longest time, and whose political philosophy and actions reflect his strong belief in the teachings of Islam.”

The defamation suit is pursuant to a letter of complaint which Abdul Hadi sent to Rewcastle Brown, demanding a retraction and public apology.

“Miss Rewcastle Brown, however, failed to respond to the complaint and instead made several public statements that complicated the situation even further,” Takiyuddin claimed.

Abdul Hadi has appointed Londonbased legal firm CarterRuck to begin the legal proceedings.