The former Transparency International-Malaysia head first challenged Fateh to sue him for defamation if his claim that the latter had misled Prime Minister Najib Razak over the reason for TV3’s ratings drop was untrue.
The second option was for Fateh to resign if he cannot prove his allegation that the appearance of Tunku Aziz on TV3 was the reason for a drop in the station’s ratings.
“He (Fateh) is a common liar for his utterly absurd, malicious and false claim that I had made 12 appearances on TV3 in October and November. In truth, I made only three brief appearances.
“Even more preposterous was his assertion to the prime minister that my appearances were the reason that the rating of TV3’s Buletin Utama dropped to dangerously low levels of late.
“He has refused to apologise to me within the one week period I had given him and this suggests a presumption of innocence on his part.
“If that is how he feels about the matter, then he should sue me for defaming him,” Tunku Aziz said in a press conference at the Hilton Hotel here.
He added that if Fateh, for whatever reason, refused to take him to court, then the latter should resign from his position in Media Prima as the organisation had no place “for a common liar”.
According to Tunku Aziz, resigning is also the only “honourable way out” for someone who has been publicly denounced as a liar.
Tunku Aziz has repeatedly demanded an apology from Fateh, while asking him to make public TV3’s ratings on the days of his appearances.
Fateh, on the other hand, claimed that Tunku Aziz’s allegations were an attempt to undermine the close working relationship between the different entities and their staff under the Media Prima Group.
“That is, again, a lie. Because I have no connection with anyone in Media Prima,” Tunku Aziz said in an immediate response to the allegation.
“It (Fateh’s alleged misleading statement to Najib) took me by surprise. I was having my usual teh tarik and roti canai when suddenly this news came to my attention, from a reliable source,” he added.
When asked who the source was, he said that was a secret he would take to his grave, but that he “completely and absolutely” trusted the source.
“But if I’m forced to, in the court of law, I’ll be obliged to (reveal the source).”