KUALA LUMPUR (May 31): Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he will be appearing before the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) looking into sovereignty issues concerning Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.

In a statement, the former prime minister said he received a subpoena on Friday to attend the RCI proceedings on June 12.

Noting that he had requested to be present throughout the proceedings when they commenced on May 21, Mahathir said: “My lawyers and I had expected to be called to attend the proceedings for the entire duration, as I am a party involved in the matters discussed by the RCI.”

He said there had been various accusations and allegations made against him openly that had received widespread media coverage.

As such, he hopes this investigation by RCI will be conducted openly and that the public will be able to follow the proceedings in full.

“If all these accusations were made openly, why should my answers and explanations be made behind closed doors,” he asked.  

Mahathir had on May 21 claimed that his legal team was not given prior notice about the RCI proceedings and was told that they would be behind closed doors.

"These proceedings are being conducted in secrecy as no one was notified it was beginning today. How am I going to explain myself and defend myself if my lawyers and I were not allowed to attend these proceedings?” he had said.

In 2008, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Batu Puteh belonged to Singapore. In 2017, Malaysia applied to the ICJ for an interpretation of the judgment.

However, the then Pakatan Harapan government led by Mahathir withdrew the application to overturn the ICJ’s ruling before the case was scheduled to be heard on June 11, 2018.

Mahathir then clarified that Malaysia and Singapore had earlier agreed in writing not to file any pleas, making the ICJ’s ruling final.

In February this year, the RCI was set up to look into the issue.