“No directive about this was issued to him on the part of the vice-chancellor,” UKM vice-chancellor Mohd Hamdi Abdul Shukor told FMT.

Muein said in a Facebook post yesterday that he had been told to stop writing about “sensitive political issues” following an article in which he claimed that the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led government had sold RM20 billion in assets over the past 400 days.

“I wrote based on official and credible reports, which I have also proven one by one, and not based on defamatory sources or fabrications as alleged by the prime minister’s adviser,” he added.

A Kadir Jasin had questioned Muein’s claims and urged Education Minister Maszlee Malik to explain if there was a conspiracy by UKM against the government.

“I’m afraid that we’ve become a victim in a game of deception by the deep state,” Kadir wrote on his personal blog.

However, Muein said Kadir had failed to respond to his arguments, and accused him of dragging in Hamdi and board chairman Abdul Wahid Omar.

“We have never met or discussed, let alone become involved in any conspiracy,” he said.