KUALA LUMPUR: Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin denied he had defamed a nasi kandar restaurant owner and linked him to a 2019 arson on the DrMaza.com Facebook page five years ago.
In his statement of defence, Asri said he was not the owner, administrator or author of the DrMaza.com page, where the alleged defamatory statement was published.
The statement of defence was filed at the Kangar High Court in Perlis on Aug 26 via Messrs Faizal Rahman & Co, in reply to the defamation suit filed by Ahmad Muzaini Mydin, 38, who owns the Muzaini Mydin Nasi Kandar chain in Kangar.
Muzaini claimed that Asri had defamed him by naming his as a suspect and using his picture in a Facebook post in relation to the arson on March 22, 2019.
Asri, as the sole defendant, stated that he did not have exclusive control of the DrMaza.com page and never gave instructions to its administrator or other persons to publish the defamatory statement.
At the material time, the mufti added, he had been in Sabah and had no knowledge when the alleged defamatory statement was published.
"There was no ill intention in the alleged defamatory statement but to convey true facts based on police investigations.
"There is no premeditated intention or interest to defame, injure or smear the plaintiff's name.
"I do not know him personally to have ill intentions and I believe the alleged defamatory statements have been removed by the DrMaza.com account.
"The plaintiff's statement against me is malicious and I put the burden of proof on him," Asri stated.
In his suit, Muzaini claimed that Asri defamed him by naming him as a suspect who torched his car in an alleged act of terrorism on March 22, 2019.
He alleged that Asri's post was intended to make people hate and criticise him even though the police never named him as a suspect.
It was clear, Muzaini claimed, that Asri's defamatory post was deliberate and pointed at him as the person who torched the car, a terrorist and an extremist who intended to hurt and endanger the lives of those who disagreed with him.
He further claimed that the defamatory post meant to say that he was the mastermind behind a plot to injure Asri and an inhumane criminal who must be feared by the public.
Muzaini, among others, is seeking an injunction barring Asri from further publishing the alleged defamatory statements as well as an apology in newspapers and social media.
It was reported that Asri's official car, a Honda Accord 1.6L, was set on fire by arsonists at his home at Jalan Persiaran Wawasan, Kangar on March 22, 2019.
In May 2019, a pasar malam trader was charged with setting fire to the car, along with another suspect at large, with the intention to cause damage.