Warisan vice-president Peter Anthony and youth chief Azis Jamman, through a letter delivered today by their lawyer Martin Tommy, demanded that Ronny Klassen apologise to them for his Facebook post on Oct 31.
The letter, which Warisan provided to reporters via WhatsApp, said the post had described Peter and Azis as persons without integrity, and as dishonest and untrustworthy politicians.
The letter said the post had presented the two opposition leaders as persons who had abused their positions to cheat the public by asking for donations, which they used to fund their lavish lifestyle.
According to the letter of demand, the post was made in response to a picture of the two leaders flying business class, which soon went viral.
It said the post had painted the two as travelling in business class thanks to a campaign to collect donations for the bail of Warisan president Shafie Apdal.
Shafie was remanded as part of a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation into the alleged embezzlement of RM1.5 billion in rural development funds for Sabah.
Warisan carried out a crowdfunding campaign for his bail which was later set at RM100,000 by the court.
Azis and Peter, as well as several of Shafie’s family members, were also released on bail in the same investigation.
The letter said Klassen must apologise in public within two days of its receipt, failing which the two politicians would sue him for defamation and demand compensation to the tune of RM1 million each.
The Star recently reported that photographs showing Azis and Peter on a flight to Kuala Lumpur had caused a stir among social media users.
Many questioned why the party was collecting funds from the public when its leaders were travelling business class.
Another Warisan vice-president, Junz Wong, later defended his colleagues, saying there were no seats available in the flight’s economy class, which had forced them to take the business class section at the last minute.
An anonymous Warisan leader said the public should also question government servants, not just opposition leaders, about their practice of flying in business class.
Warisan: What about government officers flying business class?