“I am grateful for the court’s decision, which stated that what Muhyiddin had said was false and baseless.

“They (Muhyiddin’s remarks) were harmful and dangerous,” the former finance minister told reporters after the verdict was announced by Judicial Commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain this morning.

In her judgement, Roz Mawar ordered Muhyiddin to pay Lim RM1.35 million in damages over defamatory remarks concerning the purported revocation of Yayasan Al-Bukhary’s tax exempt status.

She also ordered Muhyiddin to pay RM50,000 in costs as well as to retract the offending statements and not to republish them.

Lim, who was the finance minister between 2018 and 2020, had filed the suit on March 27, seeking an apology and retraction of the three statements made by Muhyiddin on Facebook and in major newspapers and portals.

Lim was accompanied by his father and DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang as well as several party MPs in court today.

“I hope others will not make the same mistake for political leverage,” he said.