Hanif said Lim’s alleged statement came after a news report that quoted Hanif as saying that he had arrested Lim in May 1969 for trying to “split Malaysia along racial lines”.
Lim had earlier filed a suit against Hanif over his remark.
In the counterclaim filed yesterday, Hanif claimed that Lim uploaded a tweet and subsequently issued a press statement alleging that he was someone who was “making up stories” and a person who was old and useless.
In his counter claim, Hanif is seeking for unspecific damages from Lim over the loss of his reputation as well as an injunction to stop Lim from publishing further “defamatory” remarks on social media and in press statements.
“His tweet on Sept 7 was intended to put me in shame and tried to attract negative comments from other Twitter users towards me,” Hanif said.
Lim had, in October, filed a defamation suit against Hanif over the former policeman’s claim that Lim “wanted to split Malaysia along racial lines”, with the west coast for the Chinese and the east coast for the Malays.
Lim claimed that the words, which were uttered at a convention at Universiti Teknologi Mara in Shah Alam on Sept 6, had tarnished his reputation as an MP.
However, Hanif claimed, in his statement of defence, that his statement on Lim’s ISA arrest had been misreported by the media.
“The media had failed to report my statement accurately and caused the original meaning to be distorted,” he claimed.
Hanif added that Lim’s ISA arrest in 1969 was justified as the police intelligence unit showed the DAP was allegedly involved in activities that “may threaten the security of the federation”.
“Lim’s arrest was not solely based on ‘splitting the peninsular’ claim. There were other allegations against DAP as a radical political party in controlling the country’s leadership.
“I was doing my job as an enforcement officer in safeguarding the country’s interest and there was nothing personal against Lim,” he said.
Hanif added that Lim’s lawsuit was an “afterthought” as the Iskandar Puteri MP filed it 47 years after his ISA detention.
“Facts of the case can be tested by the court back then and not today. I do not have in my possession the related documents on the ISA arrests,” he said, adding Lim’s suit was an abuse of court process.