He said the move was Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's rights to seek justice in the courts if a party felt that a person was being prosecuted.
In fact, Muhyiddin said, he was perplexed and described it as 'unusual' that the Bar Council viewed it as an obstacle to media freedom and a violation of human rights.
"We want to inform that in this country, media has freedom but, at the same time, there are limits within the law and certain powers that cannot be contravened especially if it involves defamation or matters that can bring about embarrassment.
"What more in this matter, it involves the prime minister, specifically the government. So it is his (Najib) rights to take action to correct the situation through the legal process," he said.
The Bar Council in a statement via the portal had viewed the court action taken by Najib, who is also Umno President against Malaysiakini relating to allegations of corruption, as a violation of human rights.
Last May 30, Najib and Umno executive secretary Datuk Ab Rauf Yusoh filed a suit against Malaysiakini pertaining to the publication of two articles with a defamatory nature last month.
Najib, as the second plaintiff, submitted the summons in the High Court here in his personal capacity while Ab Rauf, as the first plaintiff, acted on behalf of Umno.
According to Muhyiddin, the Bar Council and news portal should have acted fairly in issuing statements.
Prior to this, the Malaysian Bar Council thorough its president Christopher Leong urged Najib to cancel the defamation suit as it viewed politicians should not make the article, which represented the people's opinions, as a response to such criticisms, whether it was true or otherwise.
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