‘Evidence’ of gay fest turned out to be a poster of a three-day dance event featuring 14 DJs.
Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad said today he will continue with his suit against a Muslim activist who accused him of approving a “gay festival”.
Khalid said Wan Asshima Kamaruddin, president of the Gerakan Muslimah Islam Malaysia (GMIM), did not apologise for allegedly slandering him and had only apologised for humiliating him.
“We can meet, we’ll just meet in court I don’t think she knows how to apologise, I don’t think it was much of an apology,” he told reporters.
Yesterday, Wan Asshima insisted she had never meant to embarrass Khalid, and sidestepped questions when made to clarify the allegations of his supposed involvement in approving the festival.
“If the video was misinterpreted as accusing him and government departments, I hereby apologise as I had no intention of embarrassing and challenging his position as federal territories minister.
“I truly hope that they will be more focused on the issue of saving youths who are increasingly deviating far from the true path of Islam and crack down on gambling, drugs and so on; not play with emotions or get personal by suing me,” she told reporters.
Wan Asshima claimed her video was meant to alert Khalid to the purported gay festival and urged him to use his powers to block the events and all activities of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
Reiterating that she meant no offence, she claimed her group has monitored such “gay festivals” since 2015 when Barisan Nasional (BN) was still in power.
“With the new government, do work and stop this before it becomes cancerous, because we see the majority – 70 per cent – who attend are our Malay-Muslim community,” she said, further claiming that she believed that no ethnic groups would support such an event.
When asked if she was specifically apologising over her words in the video, she said her remarks then were harsh and acknowledged she was outspoken, before apologising for her manner.
On Aug 21, Khalid said he would sue Wan Asshima for reportedly accusing him and another minister, Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa, in an August 17 video of allegedly approving the purported gay fest, pointing out that she did not substantiate her claims.
She had told reporters she personally contacted Mujahid through WhatsApp to convey her apology and asked Khalid’s lawyer to arrange a meeting for her to personally apologise to him and find a solution.
The “evidence” of the alleged gay fest turned out to be a poster of a three-day dance event featuring 14 DJs from August 30 to September 1, which she showed to reporters.
Wan Asshima said the tickets to the event have been on sale since June and were still available online.
“She did not come out with any statement to apologise for the slander, she apologised for instead for humiliating me.
“I don’t feel like I was humiliated from that statement, it is a baseless accusation; it is slander and the person committing the slander is the one humiliating themselves,” Khalid said.
The Shah Alam MP then advised others on exercising their rights to free speech, saying those looking to voice out should be prepared and responsible for possible implications and repercussions stemming from it.
“When a person wants to say something they have to be careful and be responsible for what they say, the right to free speech doesn’t mean there is no reaction or implications from what we say.
“If what is said is baseless and is just words meant to provoke and slander and such, then they have to be ready to face the reaction from the one they slandered against,” he said.
Wan Asshima confirmed she provided the same “evidence” to the police.
She failed to explain what specifically about the event made it a “gay fest” as the poster appeared to be for a typical electronic dance music (EDM) festival.
She did question why she was singled out for response, insisting that other Muslim groups such as Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) Youth and the Federal Territories PAS Youth also issued statements over the matter.
GMIM was formed two months ago and comprises over 30 Malay and Muslim NGOs, including Alif Bata Srikandi, which Wan Asshima also heads.