Saying he does not intend to live his life being accused again and again, directly or indirectly, as a guilty person pertaining to the Nomad plane crash, Harris said Wong should go straight to the point rather than implicating him in press statements.
The same, he said, goes to all his accusers including Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) members who are still harping that he was directly or indirectly responsible for the tragedy that cost the lives of several newly-appointed Sabah Cabinet members on June 6, 1976.
Fed up of having to deal with accusations as the man behind the crash that killed his predecessor Tun Mohd Fuad Stephens and 10 others, Harris gave Wong a choice of either accuse him directly or apologise, failing which he will take legal action.
"I am ready to go to court once more to clear my name and prove my accusers wrong again," he said in a statement, which he also placed as an advertisement in the Daily Express in this issue.
Harris was referring to Wong's statement in June which he took to mean that the latter was accusing him of being responsible for the Nomad air crash in Sembulan 42 years ago.
"It's patently clear that your press statement was meant to insinuate that the report had specifically stated that I, Harris Mohd Salleh, was responsible and involved in Sembulan on 6 June 1976; and that I had blocked the release and publication of the investigation report of the incident.
"You, and the others who share your belief, seem to hold to the conviction that because I was the Chief Minister of Sabah during the investigation of the said plane crash, I had the absolute power to block the release and publication of the investigation report," he said.
He also challenged Wong to get the Australian investigation report to the crash, which remains classified, to be released, now that the DAP Sri Tanjong assemblyman is in the government.
He said if Wong fails to do so, he should resign immediately.
"Since you are committed in getting the truth out, you must fight to the end to get the report released. Convince your Chief Minister, your Cabinet colleagues and the Legislative Assembly to support your stand.
"If they all refuse, then you have no alternative under the practice of Parliamentary democracy but to resign.
"You must take your own words seriously and not just make any statement without facts. If you cannot and refuse to honour your statement then you are lying to the public and are not fit to represent the people of Sri Tanjong," challenged Harris.
Wong had reportedly said on June 6 that a majority of Sabahans wanted the circumstances surrounding the Nomad crash disclosed as many were still doubtful of the actual cause of the tragedy that claimed the lives Stephens and several of his month-old Berjaya Cabinet members.
According to Harris, the Australian and Malaysian governments had carried out investigations as required by the laws of both countries.
He said subsequent to the investigations, the Australian government made no statements and did not release the report whereas in Malaysia, it was stated in Parliament that the main cause of the plane crash was overloading, meaning the load was heavier on the tail end of the aircraft thus upsetting its centre of gravity.
The Sabah Government, he said, was not informed or given copies of the investigation report.
But according to Wong, people still had doubts that overloading was the cause of the crash.
"I do hope our new government will look into it, but of course I cannot represent our Chief Minister to say 'yes.' You will have to ask him.
"A new Sabah must live with no more doubts about the incident and that is the question we have to answer.
"To me the doubts must be cleared but then again that is my personal view. I think our Chief Minister is wise enough to decide," Wong was quoted as saying in the report.
In September last year, the Federal Court ruled in favour of Harris in a defamation suit he brought against SAPP President Datuk Yong Teck Lee and his party for making similar accusations back in 2010.
"In continuing to make direct or indirect accusation and allegation against me as to why the investigation report was not released, you (Wong) seem to be oblivious to the conclusion of the trial of the case I brought against Yong and SAPP for defamation over this similar matter in 2010.
"I was cleared of the insinuations of wrongdoing pertaining to the plane crash. For the record, Yong even engaged a Queen's Counsel from London," said Harris.
He suggested that Wong go through the court case to learn about some of the key facts including why the investigation report was never released.
According to him, it was believed that the report was not released to avoid claims for damages from the US and Indonesian governments as the Australian government had sold a large number of Nomad planes to the two countries.
Harris also said Wong will learn that a video recording made by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Four Corners television programme entitled "Lies in the Sky" that was aired by Australian television in 1995 was presented to the court as evidence.
Among others, he said, the investigative report accused the Australian government of hiding facts about the Nomad plane; that it had a faulty design and that the Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF) pilots refused to fly such aircraft model, a decision that nearly caused them of being charged for mutiny.
Harris further said that Wong will discover that the statement made by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah on 4 April 2010 in Penampang which SAPP President Yong relied on for his defence was contradicted by his own (Tengku Razaleigh's) earlier statement made in 1995, as published and printed in Tun Fuad's book entitled "The Sabahans". Tengku's statement in the book stated that the correct facts of events leading to the crash.
"I hereby repeat my challenge. You either accuse me directly or shut up, failing which I shall consider taking up legal action. If you do not take up this challenge, then you are not worthy of claiming to be a Yang Berhormat because you are not a man of your words and convictions," he said, adding that Wong has 30 days to accept his challenge or apologise. He warned that if Wong fails to respond to the challenge, he will take legal action or an injunction to "stop this nonsense".
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