Cops cut off Dr M after mentioning Jho Low

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad being stopped by a police officer during his speech at the Nothing to Hide forum in Kuala Lumpur today. – The Malaysia Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, June 5, 2015.Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's speech at a highly-charged 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) forum today was cut off by police just as he started mentioning the name of businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, and his involvement in 1MDB.

Dr Mahathir was about 10 minutes into his speech at the "Nothing to Hide" event, which was to have been a dialogue between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and groups over the 1MDB issue, when he was interrupted by several police officers who asked him to end his speech.

The retired statesman was allowed to take the stage after Najib failed to turn up at the event on the advice of Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.

He began speaking by voicing his dissatisfaction with Najib.

"I am very grateful to the late Tun Razak. That is why I supported his son in becoming prime minister. There were a lot of things about his policies that I disagreed with, but I kept it in my heart. I told myself, I am not the prime minister anymore," Dr Mahathir said.

But he said he could not hold back his criticism when the 1MDB controversy sparked, as it had accumulated RM42 billion of debts within six years after its inception.

Dr Mahathir then described how the Terengganu royalty itself was not in agreement with the handling of the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) as a means to invest the state's oil money.

TIA was converted into 1MDB in 2009 by Najib, who made the firm a state-owned investment company, before it started racking up debts while venturing into areas of real estate, power plants, and various other international investments.

But when Dr Mahathir started mentioning Jho Low's name, the police stepped in.

"Even during TIA times, this guy called Jho Low was influencing so many people to get the investments going," he said.

"So, then he suggested that an investment..." said Dr Mahathir before being abruptly told by a police officer to end his speech.

"I was invited here to speak and I am speaking," he could be heard telling the officer before organisers ordered the mic to be shut off, prompting loud jeers from the audience.

After a long tense period, Dr Mahathir was allowed to speak to the press in a press conference, during which he said Najib had lost an opportunity to explain himself over the 1MDB saga.

Najib is the chairman of the 1MDB advisory board and his role in 1MDB's dealings had been questioned several times.

Dr Mahathir has in recent months asked Najib to step down over 1MDB's debts, among others reasons.