PUTRAJAYA (Dec 10): Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Batu Puteh was politically motivated, and welcomed a criminal investigation against him as an opportunity to clear his name.
Mahathir said the decision to not proceed with Malaysia’s application to review the International Court of Justice’s decision to award Batu Puteh to Singapore was a “good decision”, and stressed it was made by the Cabinet and not him alone.
“I think very much so [the RCI was politically motivated], very much so,” Mahathir said during a press conference on Tuesday at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya, flanked by his lawyers Zainur Zakaria and Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali. “The whole idea is to destroy me.”
Mahathir was responding to the commission’s 271-page report on the sovereignty over Batu Puteh, the Middle Rocks and South Ledge. The report’s findings, among others, recommended a criminal probe against Mahathir over the decision to drop Malaysia's challenge over the loss of Batu Puteh to Singapore.
In justifying his decision to not proceed with Malaysia’s application to challenge the award of Batu Puteh to Singapore, Mahathir said his main goal was to not risk Malaysia’s ownership over the Middle Rocks awarded by the International Court of Justice in 2008.
“I found that if we made the wrong move and [proceeded] with the review and interpretation applications, it could potentially harm Malaysia’s interest,” he said.
Responding to Anwar’s 'treachery' accusation
WATCH: Tun M responds to ‘treachery’ accusation
Mahathir also questioned how his actions constituted treachery as accused by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim since he did not derive any personal gain, insisting that the decision was made with the agreement of the then Cabinet.
“If I am treacherous, then the whole Cabinet, including my deputy prime minister [Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail], was also treacherous,” Mahathir said.
Apart from Wan Azizah, who is Anwar’s wife, Mahathir also pointed out that his Cabinet back then comprised the likes of Lim Guan Eng, Anthony Loke Siew Fook, Gobind Singh Deo and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“If they were against the idea, they could have spoken up,” Mahathir continued, “but none of them said anything, so we have to assume that they agreed.”
Some of the ministers are now part of Anwar’s administration, and “they should be called as witnesses to verify whether they said anything or not”, Mahathir said, noting that some undisclosed members of his Cabinet testified but were not allowed to be cross-examined by his lawyers.
“This paper (the RCI report) was presented seemingly to pinpoint that I was the one who was responsible. It was not me alone; it was the Cabinet. But, of course, they cannot very well charge the whole Cabinet, so they want to charge me under criminal law,” Mahathir said.
The RCI's recommendation, however, was not unanimous. Former Federal Court judge Tan Sri Zainun Ali and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's constitutional law expert Professor Dr Faridah Jalil were of the view that Mahathir’s action was not criminal but merely a dereliction of duty.
Former chief justice Tun Md Raus Sharif, lawyer Datuk Dr Baljit Singh Sidhu, former dean of Universiti Malaya's legal faculty Datuk Dr Johan Shamsuddin Sabaruddin, Johor state finance officer Datuk Mohammed Ridha Abd Kadir, and southern territory maritime director Dickson Dollah were for actions against Mahathir.
Opportunity to clear Dr M's name
WATCH: Tun M says ready for criminal investigation
Mahathir’s lawyer Zainur said that if the government decides to proceed with a criminal investigation against Mahathir, the politician and his lawyers would welcome it.
“It will give us the opportunity for Mahathir to vindicate himself, because we can call all these people as witnesses,” he said.
Zainur continued that evidence submitted during the commission’s proceedings cannot be relied upon in a criminal or civil case, and that the process of examining witnesses would have to be done all over again.
“We will have the opportunity to call witnesses, including the Cabinet members and all those involved, even [then attorney general Tan Sri Mohamed] Apandi Ali, then we can ascertain the truth of the whole matter,” the lawyer added.