PUTRAJAYA - Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has questioned the credibility of three commissioners, including the chairman of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the handling of matters related to the sovereignty of Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge, Tun Md Raus Sharif.
He said the civil action against Raus was initiated before he became the seventh prime minister.
"I sued him because to me, he had lost his eligibility to hold the position of Chief Justice after his term ended," he said in a statement distributed to the media during a press conference, here, today.
He added that the other two individuals were lawyers, Datuk Dr Baljit Singh Sidhu and Johor state finance officer Datuk Mohammed Ridha Abd Kadir who were appointed by Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali as members of the special task force for the Batu Puteh case.
"How can someone who was part of a special task force be a part of the RCI case and later sit in the RCI for the same issue?," Mahathir questioned.
He said out of the seven RCI commissioners, two had stated there was no criminal misconduct on his part.
"The credibility of three commissioners is questionable, while two others sided with them.
"Can we accept a report like this?," he said.
He said Apandi claimed Malaysia’s withdrawal of the application for review and interpretation meant that Batu Puteh was permanently lost.
"Batu Puteh has been lost for a long time. This was confirmed by 12 International Court of Justice (ICJ) judges, including a letter from the Acting State Secretary of Johor to the Colonial Secretary of Singapore as seen on pages 44, 45 and 47 of the RCI report," he said.
He added that Apandi was let go from his position as Attorney General due to negligence and failure to perform his duties.
"Why would Apandi take the task of leading the special task force to investigate the withdrawal of this review when he knew there was a conflict?," he said.
Dr Mahathir also expressed confusion over the actions of the Madani Government, which he described as strange.
"Similarly, in the Batu Puteh RCI issue. At first, it was kept secret and the media and the public were not allowed in," he said.
He also pointed out that neither he nor his lawyers were allowed to attend the RCI proceedings except when they were called.
"Once the RCI was finished, suddenly the government accused me of hiding something.
"But they conducted this RCI secretly, supposedly to protect national secrets and yet they put the RCI report in Parliament," he said.
Dr Mahathir said the RCI report began circulating widely on WhatsApp.
"From last Thursday until today (Tuesday), people have made comments, accusations, claims and drew conclusions. Until now, I have not been charged with any crime.
"I have not been called by the police regarding any reports about this RCI," he said.
The RCI into the handling of matters related to the sovereignty of Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge recommended that a criminal investigation be initiated against Dr Mahathir under Section 415(b) of the Penal Code.