Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom has denied using funds from an Islamic charity for his trip to the US. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, November 13, 2015.Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom has denied using cash from donations meant for orphans to fund his trip to the US last year, and is threatening to sue parties involved for defamation over the reports.
The minister in charge of religious affairs said National Oversight and Whistleblower (NOW) director Akmal Nasir's claims that he used the funds to "play golf and go shopping" were slanderous and misleading.
He said the May 2014 visit was made in his official capacity, and it was spent attending events organised by agencies under his purview, namely Yayasan Pembangunan Ekonomi Islam Malaysia (Yapeim), with the Malaysian embassy in the US and Education Malaysia Chicago.
Jamil said more than 1,000 students from the US and Canada attended the events, which included motivational programmes; marriage, management and current issues symposiums; pre-marriage courses and Quranic reading classes.
"In conjunction with the launch of the Mid West Game in the US as well, several sports events were organised by Education Malaysia in Indianapolis, including golfing events with the Malaysian US embassy in Washington, which I attended with the ambassador and embassy staff.
"So claims that my programmes in the US were allegedly for entertainment, and involved the use of orphans' funds, is a huge slander and attempt to destroy my credibility and dignity as a minister in the Prime Minister's Department," Jamil said in a statement.
He said it was unfair to display confusing documents and not depict the programme in its entirety.
He said it was part of his duty as a minister in the Prime Minister's Department to accept official invites from embassies, especially when the programmes were organised by agencies under him.
Jamil added that the trip and all official activities were paid for by the agencies, in line with their policies and financial procedures.
"With that, I demand Akmal Nasir, the director of NOW and The Malaysian Insider to retract all allegations and slander they have made and issue a public apology within 24 hours.
"Otherwise, I will initiate a defamation suit through my lawyers because I believe this has truly tarnished my dignity and credibility."
However, unlike other news portals, The Malaysian Insider did not name the minister in its report on Akmal's press conference earlier today.
It did, however, tried to contact the minister and Yapeim for comments but to no avail.
Akmal told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur that the eight-day trip had cost about RM410,978 and included activities such as golfing, shopping and a trip to outlet that sold luxury items in Washington DC. – November 13, 2015.
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