[UPDATED] Batu Puteh RCI recommends criminal probe into Dr Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR — The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge has recommended that former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad be investigated in relation to the loss of Malaysia’s sovereignty over Batu Puteh.

The RCI report which has been declassified and uploaded to the Parliament website today recommends that the two-time prime minister be investigated under Section 415(b) of the Penal Code for cheating or deception.

Dr Mahathir, 99, was prime minister in 2018 when the government dropped it application to review the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) 2008 decision to award Batu Puteh to Singapore.

The RCI recommended that the commission’s secretary lodge a police report so that investigations into Dr Mahathir can commence.

The RCI, which was headed by former chief justice Tun Md Raus Sharif, said the loss of Malaysia’s sovereignty over Batu Puteh should be taken as a lesson for the government not to deal with such issues in a flippant manner and without paying attention to details.

It also recommended that in the future, the cabinet should make decisions on matters involving sovereignty and national interests through cabinet memoranda, instead of discussing such items under “other matters” in its meeting agenda.

The RCI said this because it found, based on the evidence tendered during the inquiry, that Dr Mahathir had written a letter about the decision not to pursue a review of the ICJ ruling and communicated it to Singapore, without involving the cabinet.

Decisions on issues of sovereignty should also never be made by certain individuals with the excuse of official secrecy, the RCI added.

“As a guide for the future, important matters involving the country’s sovereignty…should be collectively managed with the involvement of all ministries, departments and agencies relevant (to the issue). 

“Secrecy cannot be used as a basis to limit the composition of (a team or committee).”

The RCI, which was formed in February this year after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong gave his consent, completed its inquiry and submitted its report to the King, Sultan Ibrahim, in June.

Dr Mahathir has been blamed for causing Malaysia to lose sovereignty over Batu Puteh, but insisted that the decision not to pursue a review of the ICJ’s ruling was not his alone, but made collectedly by his cabinet in 2018.

He also said he disagreed with pursuing the review, as both Malaysia and Singapore had agreed to abide by the ICJ’s ruling.

“To ask for revision, an interpretation, doesn’t look good for a country that has promised to accept (the court’s decision)… you are then reneging,” he said previously.

The RCI, in recommending criminal investigations into Dr Mahathir, noted that the penalties for cheating under Section 415 of the Penal Code are punishable under Sections 417 and 418 of the same code.

These provisions provide for imprisonment of up to between five and seven years, or a fine, or both. – December 5, 2024