Kitingan, who is also Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku president, said Joseph would also be referred to the party’s disciplinary board for any action to be taken against his party membership. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
KOTA KINABALU, June 16 — Kadazandusun groups here are mulling legal action against lawyer Marcel Jude Joseph for his recent comments on the Unduk Ngadau pageant.
Kadazandusun Cultural Association (KDCA) deputy president Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan said that six groups representing different ethnicities met this morning, including the Sabah Cultural Board and Native Affairs Council, and reached a decision on the next course of action.
“It has happened, and this particular lawyer has apologised, and his apology has become a basis for further action. He has admitted guilt and we will take whatever action in the law to settle it, including in the native court.
“But as a community of natives and practising adat and culture, the community has been deeply hurt and we may take further action — this includes a civil suit or even invoking the Sedition Act,” he said.
The other groups present at the meeting this morning were the Sabah Murut Association, Sabah United Dusun Association and Sabah Momogun Rungus Association.
When asked what “sogit” or compensation would be sought, Kitingan said they would leave it to the native court to decide.
“In the past, we have had the sogit of seven buffaloes. A Pakistani in Kota Marudu was fined eight buffaloes for a similar insult to the Kadazandusun community. These are just examples. There are seven variations of native customs in the state,” he said.
Kitingan, who is also Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku president, said Joseph, who is also a pro-tem committee member of the party’s Tanjung Aru division, would also be referred to the party’s disciplinary board for any action to be taken against his party membership.
“No one should insult the culture and adat of any community. Let this happening be a lesson to anybody, so in the future, this won’t happen again. That’s why we are taking this action,” he said.
He added that the native court can take action against a non-native so long as one party is native, and it involved the adat, culture or the community in general.
Joseph is the defence lawyer for another politician from the same party, Phillip Among, who is on trial for five counts of molest, including four on an Unduk Ngadau contestant. In his written submission for a lower bail, he had, among others, likened the pageant to an “exotic cattle show”, earning the ire of the Kadazandusun community.
He, however, did not utter those words in court.