KUALA LUMPUR: Businessman Datuk Habibul Rahman Kadir Shah plans to sue Muar member of Parliament Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman for allegedly making statements tarnishing the former's reputation during a press conference, four years ago.
In a statement today, Habibul Rahman said he will be taking legal action against Syed Saddiq following the latter's refusal to apologise over the slanderous remarks relating to a bribery attempt.
Also in the statement released today, Habibul Rahman vehemently denied the allegations which he described as malicious and had defamed him.
He said Syed Saddiq had through solicitors Messrs AmerBon Advocates intimated his refusal to meet the demands set out in a letter sent to him on Sept 17, 2021.
"In light thereof, I have instructed my solicitors to initiate legal action against Syed Saddiq," he said.
Habibul Rahman had issued a letter of demand dated Sept 17, through law firm Jahaberdeen & Co demanding Syed Saddiq to issue a public apology within nine days in a newspaper of preference.
Other demands include an undertaking not to repeat the alleged defamatory statements and to offer a suitable amount of damages within seven days from the date of the letter.
Habibul Rahman, who is a former aide to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had contended that the content of the press conference at the Seri Pacific Hotel, here, on Oct 2, 2017, had tarnished his reputation as a businessman and a corporate advisor and consultant.
He said in the press conference, the former Armada youth chief of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) had alleged that there was a network referred to as 'Rangkaian Dedak Sistematik' that operates to bribe and intimidate founding members of Bersatu and to weaken and financially disable certain individuals who oppose corruption in the country.
The businessman also contended that Syed Saddiq's statement that the network was responsible for his termination as a researcher for a Johor-based think tank and as a part-time lecturer and debate trainer at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), was designed to injure the former's reputation, among others.
Habibul Rahman said Syed Saddiq had in the press conference named him as the person who created the said network.