KUALA LUMPUR (May 21): Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has demanded that he or his lawyers be allowed to attend the proceedings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the sovereignty of Pulau Batu Puteh and two other islets.
This is despite the two-time former prime minister saying in February that he would boycott the RCI if former chief justice Tun Md Raus Sharif remained as the commission's chairman.
Mahathir in a statement claimed that he and his lawyers were not notified that the RCI will commence on Tuesday. When the lawyers found out about the proceedings, Mahathir said they tried to appear and submitted several applications and objections.
"All the applications and objections were rejected and the RCI proceedings will continue behind closed doors," Mahathir claimed.
Citing Section 18 of the Commissions of Enquiry Act 1950 (Act 119), Mahathir said he has the right to be present at the proceedings.
The provision stipulates that "any person whose conduct is the subject of enquiry under this Act, or who is in any way implicated or concerned in the matter under enquiry, shall be entitled to be represented by an advocate at the whole of the enquiry."
"It is clear that the law obliges me or my lawyer to be present throughout the proceedings until its completion. How can I explain or defend myself if my lawyer or I are not allowed to be present during the proceedings," Mahathir questioned.
"These closed door proceedings today [Tuesday] are conducted without any notice to any party and are being held in secret," he added.
In addition to requesting for the right for him or his lawyer to be present throughout the RCI proceedings, Mahathir said his lawyer also made several other requests including requesting the withdrawal of Raus, legal practitioner Datuk Dr Baljit Singh Sidhu and Johor state financial officer Datuk Mohammed Ridha Abdul Kadir from the commission on grounds of conflict of interest.
Mahathir denies making decision to withdraw appeal on his accord
Further in the statement, Mahathir denied making the decision to withdraw Malaysia's review application on Pulau Batu Puteh in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on his own accord or secretly.
The veteran politician claimed that the decision was made with consent from the then cabinet members following consultation with the Attorney General's Chambers.
"Many accusations have been made against me openly by members of the government and this includes the fact that I made a decision on the appeal of the Pulau Batu Puteh case on my own or secretly.
"This is not true and as far as I can remember, before I made my decision I consulted the Attorney General's office and got opinions from relevant lawyers. After that I presented the matter to the members of the cabinet and they collectively agreed not to continue with the appeal," Mahathir said.
He went on to list down the cabinet members who attended the meeting which includes Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Anthony Loke, Gobind Singh and Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu. "All this is in the government records," he added.
On Feb 18, the King of Malaysia, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, consented to the setting up of an RCI to review with immediate effect matters related to the cases involving the sovereignty of Pulau Batu Puteh (Pedra Branca), Batuan Tengah (Middle Rocks) and Tubir Selatan (South Ledge).
The ruler also consented to the appointment of seven RCI members, including Raus as the chairman, and former Federal Court judge Tan Sri Zainun Ali as the deputy chairman.
The five other RCI members are Baljit Singh, Mohammed Ridha, former dean of Universiti Malaya's Faculty of Law Prof Dr Johan Shamsuddin Sabaruddin, constitutional law and administrative law expert Prof Datin Dr Faridah Jalil, and the Marine Department's southern region director Dickson Dollah.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has previously called for a review of a 2018 decision by the government — under the administration of Mahathir as the then-prime minister — to drop its application to revise an ICJ ruling that Singapore had sovereignty over Batu Puteh.
The ICJ awarded the Middle Rocks formation to Malaysia while nearby Batu Puteh was given to Singapore. Malaysia in 2017 sought to have the Batu Puteh part of the ruling overturned, but dropped its claim a year later after Mahathir became prime minister.