KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will no longer pursue his defamation suit against former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
In a joint statement today, both politicians said they have agreed to stop the personal dispute and High Court proceedings.
They said the decision was made after considering the effects that the defamation suit would have on the public as well as the recommendations of the High Court judge.
They added that they wanted to put the country’s needs first.
In the same statement, both politicians also thanked the High Court judge and court officers involved and expressed hope that their decision would be accepted and respected by all parties and not be used as fodder to disrupt and undermine national harmony and stability, or public confidence in the judiciary.
Zahid filed the defamation suit on April 5, 2022 over an allegation that he sought Muhyiddin’s help to resolve or postpone the former’s criminal case.
On October 19, 2018, Zahid was charged with 12 counts of breach of trust, eight counts of corruption and 27 counts of money laundering.
He claimed that Muhyiddin had, while on the campaign trail for the Johor state election in Mersing on February 13, 2022, uttered a defamatory statement with ill intent against him.
Zahid had claimed that until the date of the writ of summons and the statement of claim was filed, video footage broadcasted by Astro Awani had racked up 29,752 views via the broadcast channel’s YouTube channel, which has 1.44 million subscribers, and was shared on several new sites on and Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Facebook page.
Zahid, who is the Bagan Datuk MP and Barisan Nasional chairman, had also filed an interim injunction for Muhyiddin, who is PN chairman, to delete, edit and cease publication of part of the video footage which contained the defamatory statement in online news portals and social media, including the PN’s Facebook page, Astro Awani YouTube channel and KiniTV.
