KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — The government has decided not to proceed with action against former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad over the issue of sovereignty involving Pulau Batu Puteh, which was raised in the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI), due to age-related considerations, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said that although he believed a serious wrongdoing had occurred, the Cabinet had decided not to pursue further action as Dr Mahathir is now 100 years old.
“We made the decision because it involves a former Prime Minister who is 100 years old. Was he not at fault? He was. Should we take action? … in the Cabinet, I agreed that no action should be taken. If we did, (the MP for) Kota Bharu would be shouting that we are being unfair.
“… He is already 100 … the mistake is serious, but we should not proceed,” he said during Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a question from Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Bharu), who had asked why the Pulau Batu Puteh RCI had been withdrawn.
Anwar stressed that although the government had decided not to pursue action, this did not mean the wrongdoing had not occurred.
“It’s not an allegation; it is something that genuinely happened,” he said.
Previously, the RCI on the Handling of Matters Related to the Sovereignty of Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge had recommended that criminal investigations be initiated against Dr Mahathir.
That recommendation was among those included in the 217-page RCI report that was distributed to Members of Parliament in the Dewan Rakyat.
According to the report, criminal investigations could be initiated against the former Prime Minister under Section 415(b) of the Penal Code, punishable under Section 417, and also under Section 418 of the same Code.
“In the context of Section 415(b), what needs to be demonstrated is that Tun Dr Mahathir had deceived the Cabinet and intentionally persuaded the Malaysian Government not to proceed with the applications (for review and interpretation of ICJ rulings), even though the decision was made unilaterally by Tun Dr Mahathir without Cabinet approval,” the report said.
On May 23, 2008, the International Court of Justice ruled that Singapore had sovereignty over Batu Puteh, while Middle Rocks, located less than a kilometre from the island, belonged to Malaysia.
