Anwar sues Muhyiddin over RM15mil state adviser remuneration claim

 

Anwar Ibrahim is suing Muhyiddin Yassin over the alleged defamatory remarks made at an election campaign event in Kulim earlier this month.

PETALING JAYA: A defamation suit has been filed against Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin over his allegation that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim received RM15 million from the Selangor government while serving as its economic adviser.

The suit filed by solicitors SN Nair & Partners at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on behalf of the prime minister seeks general, compensatory, aggravated and exemplary damages from Muhyiddin, who was named as defendant.

Anwar has also sought an injunction to restrain the Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman from further uttering, writing, publishing, or distributing the impugned libelous words, or words of the same or similar effect.

On Dec 7, Anwar issued a letter of demand to Muhyiddin over the matter but received no response, leading to the filing of the suit.

Anwar had demanded that an unconditional apology be published in newspapers and media of his choice. He had also sought compensation over “serious injury” to his reputation.

In his statement of claim, Anwar said Muhyiddin’s remarks were uttered on Dec 5 at a campaign event in support of PN candidate Azman Nasrudin at Taman Selasih in Kulim during the run-up to the Padang Serai parliamentary election.

Muhyiddin’s remarks were published on TikTok and garnered about 1.1 million views, shared 2,169 times, liked 21,400 times, and commented on 6,061 times, the court filing claimed.

Anwar claims Muhyiddin’s entire speech at the ceramah was then published on Facebook on Dec 8 despite the letter of demand sent to his lawyers the day before.

He said Muhyiddin’s remarks, among others, depicted him as an unreliable and untruthful person. He added that it also gave a false impression that he is a sinner, a liar, a greedy person, and a hypocrite.

The Selangor government has denied Muhyiddin’s claim that Anwar was paid RM15 million.

Juwairiya Zulkifli, who is political secretary to Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari, said Anwar was only paid a token sum of RM1 per year for his services.

She was also reported to have said that this information was officially recorded in the state assembly Hansard. - FMT