ACTION TO BE TAKEN AGAINST NEWS PORTAL

Article on S’pore’s The Independent allegedly cast Johor Crown Prince in a negative light

THE Johor palace and the state police are set to take action against a Singapore news portal over the publication of an article deemed to have cast Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim in a negative light.

Johor Council of Royal Court president Datuk Abdul Rahim Ramli, in condemning the article published by The Independent, said it had twisted facts regarding a supposed statement issued by Tunku Ismail on the spat between Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz and tycoon Robert Kuok.

“The crown prince of Johor has never issued any statement on the subject. I am asking the foreign media to stop linking the sultan of Johor and crown prince with political issues.

“Any statement issued would be made through the Johor Royal Press Office or Johor Southern Tigers (webpage).

“Any statement coming from anything other than these sources are deemed untrue,” he said.

Johor police chief Datuk Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd said police received a report on fake news and a defamatory article concerning Tunku Ismail at 12.15am yesterday.

“Preliminary checks showed that the article, has been removed by the website’s administrator.

“We have opened an investigation paper under Section 500 of the Penal Code, which provides for a fine or two years’ jail, or both, upon conviction.”

Khalil urged website administrators to check the authenticity of news items before they published them.