IGP gets nod for committal proceedings against Papagomo again

New Straits Times

16-05-2025

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has once again permitted the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain to initiate committal proceedings against controversial blogger Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, also known as Papagomo.
Judicial Commissioner Gan Techiong made the ruling after hearing submissions from lawyer Raam Kumar, who appeared for the top cop today.
This is the third contempt of court application filed by Razarudin against Wan Muhammad Azri over a video published on May 1, a day after the latter issued a public apology to both the court and Razarudin on April 30.
The video, published on social media, featured court statements accompanied by background music from P. Ramlee's classic film 'Pendekar Bujang Lapok', which Razarudin described as satirical and insincere.
According to Razarudin, the video demonstrated that Papagomo "felt no remorse" for breaching the injunction and had only issued the apology to create a "false impression" before the court.
He further contended that the video falsely implied that Papagomo had successfully deceived the court into accepting his apology and that Razarudin had acted maliciously by seeking to have him imprisoned at Sungai Buloh Prison.
"The statements made by the defendant in the video contradict the written and oral apology read in court on April 30 in compliance with the committal order," Razarudin stated.
He argued that Papagomo's conduct constituted contempt of court and warranted committal proceedings.
The apology stemmed from a RM3 million defamation suit filed by Razarudin over allegedly defamatory remarks, which also involved Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Razarudin first filed for committal on Jan 24, seeking for Wan Muhammad Azri to be jailed or fined for contempt of court after allegedly violating an injunction granted on Jan 10 by publishing statements about Razarudin on YouTube, TikTok, X, and Telegram.
On Jan 31, the High Court granted an injunction prohibiting Wan Muhammad Azri from making defamatory statements against Razarudin on any social media platform pending the outcome of the main defamation suit.
On 9 May, the High Court again granted leave to commence committal proceedings after finding there was a prima facie case.
In that second instance, Razarudin sought committal on the grounds that Wan Muhammad Azri had failed to unconditionally publish his apology on YouTube, TikTok, and X, and also failed to remove a Jan 14 post and an edited image of the IGP.
Razarudin filed the RM3 million defamation suit on Dec 26, last year, over remarks by Wan Muhammad Azri allegedly labelling him a "prostitute of honourable inmates" and a "bootlicker" of Anwar.