Among the offending remarks was a claim that Zairil had abused his power by giving a contract to a private company, said Zairil’s aide, Farid Maulud, in a statement.

He said the letter of demand was sent to Ravinder Singh of Parti Rakyat Malaysia, heritage activist Khoo Salma Nasution, and the publisher of the video, Zaidi Dali.

Zaidi has since retracted his statements and has apologised openly, Farid said.

Ravinder confirmed in a statement that he had received the letter of demand and said his lawyers will respond to it. “This is a matter of public interest and freedom of speech,” he said.

Ravinder and Khoo were given 14 days to retract the said statements or face legal action for defamation. Farid said the claims were false and slanderous and made without any basis.