Defamation Drama: Muhyiddin Yassin's Legal Woes Deepen

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has been ordered by a court to pay over $300,000 to another politician in a defamation ruling. Facing multiple legal challenges, including sedition and corruption charges, Muhyiddin plans to appeal the defamation judgment related to allegations against Lim Guan Eng.

A Malaysian court ruled on Friday that former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin must pay more than $300,000 in damages to another politician in a defamation case, intensifying his legal struggles.

Muhyiddin, who served as Prime Minister between 2020 and 2021, faces additional charges including sedition for allegedly insulting a former king, as well as accusations of corruption and money laundering. He has denied all these allegations. In relation to the defamation case, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered Muhyiddin to pay 1.35 million ringgit ($308,078) for defamatory comments made against former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng in March 2023 Facebook posts, as reported by Bernama.

The court further mandated that Muhyiddin retract the offensive statements and prohibited him from repeating the claims. Muhyiddin expressed his intention to appeal the ruling and confirmed the removal of the posts from his social media accounts in adherence to the court's decision. Lim, satisfied with the judgment, highlighted the baselessness of the claims, asserting they wrongly accused him of misusing his position during his tenure from 2018 to 2020.

(With inputs from agencies.)