Batu Puteh RCI recommends criminal probe into Dr M

Batu Puteh RCI recommends criminal probe into Dr M

PETALING JAYA: The royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks, and South Ledge has recommended that a police report be filed against former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for cheating.

The RCI’s declassified report on its findings was released on the Parliament website today, although many of its recommendations were redacted.

Among the unredacted recommendations was that the RCI’s secretary file a police report against Mahathir to make way for a criminal investigation.

“A criminal investigation can be initiated under Section 415(b) of the Penal Code (for cheating), punishable under Section 417, as well as under Section 418 of the same code,” said the report.

Section 415(b) relates to the offence of intentionally deceiving a person to induce him or her to act or omit an act which is likely to cause damage or harm to another person.

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Putrajaya filed an application on Feb 3, 2017 to review the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) decision, handed down nine years earlier, to award Singapore sovereignty over Batu Puteh.

The ICJ awarded Middle Rocks to Malaysia, while the ownership of South Ledge, situated about 4km from Batu Puteh, was left for determination based on the delimitation of territorial waters.

On June 30, 2017, Putrajaya filed an application to interpret the ICJ’s judgment to address its ambiguities and implications, particularly regarding the status of South Ledge.

However, upon wresting control of Putrajaya at the general election in May 2018, the Pakatan Harapan government, with Mahathir as prime minister, withdrew both applications before they came up for hearing in June 2018.

The report said that Mahathir had likely acted deliberately to influence the Cabinet to discontinue the applications despite the views of international consultants who said they had a reasonable likelihood of success.

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“The commission believes that an investigation under Section 418 is warranted based on the facts indicating that he deceived the government, fully aware that his actions could potentially result in wrongful loss to the government.”

Section 418 of the Penal Code relates to the offence of cheating with the knowledge that wrongful loss may be thereby caused to a person whose interest the offender is bound to protect.

The report said that as prime minister, Mahathir was responsible for the nation and required at all times to preserve, safeguard, and defend its interests and sovereignty.

“By deciding not to pursue both applications, Mahathir caused wrongful loss to the government,” it said.

However, two members of the commission – retired apex court judge Zainun Ali and legal expert Faridah Jalil – said Mahathir’s decision not to proceed with the applications was a “mere dereliction of duty” and did not amount to a criminal offence.

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The other RCI members are lawyer Baljit Singh Sidhu, former Universiti Malaya faculty of law dean Johan Shamsuddin Sabaruddin, Johor state financial officer Ridha Abd Kadir, and director of the marine department southern region Dickson Dollah. Ex-chief justice Raus Sharif is commission chairman.

The classified final report was submitted by Raus to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim at Istana Negara on Aug 12.

Other recommendations

The RCI however did not recommend filing a civil suit for tort of misfeasance in public office against Mahathir due to the six-year limitation period for the action.

The commission also did not recommend that Malaysia file a fresh request for interpretation to the ICJ, though it was able to do so.