SHAH ALAM (Oct 21): Centenarian politician Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday he was forced to take defamation action against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, as what Anwar had alleged in his current position over Mahathir’s purported wealth and that of his family was more damaging than before Anwar was the PM.
Mahathir said what Anwar had said was picked up not only by news organisations, but also Facebook and other social media.
“Anwar has defamed me by repeating the allegation (that I had amassed wealth and avoided paying taxes). His statement is more effective (defamatory) on me as it is (not only reported in the news) but also on Facebook and social media. It reflects what Anwar has alleged of me, and what he (Anwar) said as the PM was stronger than (what he has alleged) before this (before he was the PM).
“As a result of the false allegation, I have decided to take this defamation action,” he said in reply to questions from his lead counsel Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali.
Mahathir earlier viewed a snippet of Anwar’s speech during the PKR party congress in March 2023, and said that when the Tambun member of Parliament (Anwar) referred to the 22 years’ administration and 22 months’ administration, he was referring to Mahathir’s first term as the PM from 1981 to 2003, and his second term in 2018 to 2020.
Mahathir was testifying in his RM150 million suit against Anwar in May 2023, over claims made by Anwar in his speech, alleging that “a leader of 22 years and 22 months” had amassed wealth and had enriched his own family.
Anwar, in his defence to Mahathir’s suit, claimed that the statements he made at the party’s congress were true.
Currently, Mahathir is the only witness testifying in his suit, and it is expected that Anwar will be the witness for the defence.
Anwar to show evidence
Mahathir also denied Anwar’s allegation that he did not pay taxes and has wealth (cash) overseas, describing the allegation as slander, and asking the present PM to show the proof.
Mahathir maintained that from the evidence (documents tendered in court by the defence), there was nothing to show that he had gained the wealth.
“There are none from the documents prepared that showed that I swindled the government’s assets. As the PM, my only source of income was through my wages as the PM; I did not have any other source of income. I also did not receive any returns from the duties (as the PM) which I had performed,” he said.
Expanding on this further, the former Kubang Pasu and Langkawi member of Parliament said he had seen the documents filed by Anwar and felt they were not relevant as they do not prove the purported defamatory statement made, and based on the documents provided by the defence, Mahathir said he did not have knowledge of what was claimed.
“From the documents produced by Anwar in court, and if seen and read, there is no evidence that I stole or gave projects to my children. For the past 27 years, since 1998, Anwar has slandered me, claiming I was cruel, a dictator, I used cronies, enriched my children, and used the police to arrest people.
“Since 1998 till November 2022, I did not care [about these slanders], as Anwar was not in power as the PM. However, now that Anwar is the PM since November 2022, I have decided to take action. This is because as the PM, Anwar has the power to gather evidence — a PM could use the police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, and other agencies to gather evidence,” he added.
Mahathir said Anwar claimed he did not want to quarrel and claimed he was prepared to show the evidence.
“However, till now, there is no evidence that is produced by Anwar that I stole money, or that money was placed in my account, that I have billions (of ringgit), that I gave projects to my son or my crony, or that I only talked about the rights of Malays after I lost power.
“Hence, Anwar has lied since 1998. He has lied for the past 27 years,” Mahathir said.
Mahathir also tendered his 54-page witness statement to the court, which contained questions and answers from his lawyers and verified that it was his evidence.
Rafique, who appeared with counsel Nizam Bashir, sought for Judicial Commissioner Datuk Donald Joseph Franklin to have the cross-examination of Mahathir be done on Thursday, as the witness was on medication.
Anwar’s defence, comprising counsels Ranjit Singh, Razlan Hadri Zulkifli, and Aliff Benjamin Suhaimi, said they were prepared to cross-examine the former PM on Tuesday, but left it to the court to decide.
Franklin asked Mahathir whether he was well enough to be cross-examined, and Mahathir replied that he was under medication and felt that he could not function well and had not regained strength.
Following this, Franklin adjourned the trial to Thursday.