KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin told the High Court today that he did not defame Lim Guan Eng regarding the tax exemption issue involving Yayasan Albukhary.

He said he was merely clarifying to the media about questions raised by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) following an investigation conducted on him on March 9 last year related to the Jana Wibawa project and Yayasan Albukhary.

“I was only clarifying my position and what had happened to me. I had no malicious intent, and the statement was not directed at the plaintiff (Lim) but rather explained the matters that had already occurred,” he said.

He stated this while reading his witness testimony on the second-day hearing of Lim’s defamation lawsuit against the Pagoh MP over the cancellation of Yayasan Albukhary’s tax exemption.

Muhyiddin added that the previous Barisan Nasional government had granted Yayasan Albukhary tax exemption, but he (Muhyiddin) had received appeal letters from the charitable foundation on February 5, 2021, and February 8, 2021, stating that the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) decided not to recognise its exemption status.

“I thought that if the tax exemption was still recognised by the IRB, there would be no need for Yayasan Albukhary to appeal to me while Perikatan Nasional was in government.

“That must have happened during Pakatan Harapan’s time in government, and at that time the plaintiff was the Finance Minister. I did not accuse or defame him (Lim); I was merely referring to the fact that the government at the time was Pakatan Harapan, and it was a fact that the plaintiff was the Finance Minister,” he said.

Muhyiddin further explained that the IRB falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, and the Finance Minister is responsible for the decisions made by the departments under its purview.

“Therefore, when I received the letter from Yayasan Albukhary, I forwarded it to Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz because he was the Finance Minister at that time,” he said.

When questioned by Lim’s lawyer, Guok Ngek Seong, Muhyiddin agreed that the appeal letter from Yayasan Albukhary did not state that Lim did not recognise the tax exemption.

“However, to my understanding, when Yayasan Albukhary’s tax exemption was not recognised, the Finance Minister was Lim Guan Eng,” Muhyiddin said.

On March 27, 2023, Lim filed a lawsuit against Muhyiddin for allegedly making three Facebook defamatory statements on March 9, 11, and 12, 2023 involving him in the tax exemption issue.

Reports on the matter were subsequently published in several newspapers and news portals.

The former Penang chief minister also claimed that the defamatory statements implied that he had abused his position and power by authorising or directing the IRB to impose taxes and penalties on the charitable foundation, despite them being exempted.

The trial before Judicial Commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain resumes tomorrow. — Bernama