Zahid lied, nobody referred to my name as 'Kutty' - Dr M tells court

 

Dr Mahathir Mohamad claimed Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had lied because nobody ever referred to the former premier as “Mahathir anak lelaki Iskandar Kutty”.

The plaintiff told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that there was no identification card (IC) with such a name.

"The reference to Mahathir anak lelaki Iskandar Kutty, I realised was a lie. There is no IC to show such a name referred to me since I was born until I went to university and graduated.

"Nobody ever referred to my name as Mahathir anak lelaki Iskandar Kutty.

"It has never been written anywhere until Zahid made the statement supposedly that he had an IC showing Mahathir anak lelaki Iskandar Kutty. That is a lie by Zahid," the 99-year-old testified during the defamation suit hearing today.

The former Umno president claimed that Zahid made the statement during a speech at the Kelana Jaya party division meeting on July 30, 2017.

Mahathir claimed that during the speech, the then home minister had allegedly dredged up a copy of the plaintiff's old identity card, which purportedly stated his name as “Mahathir anak lelaki Iskandar Kutty”.

In his statement of defence, Zahid denied that the remark had ever been malicious, slanderous or harmed Mahathir's public reputation.

The Bagan Datuk MP claimed that the name “Mahathir, son of Iskandar Kutty” referred to an individual based on information in an old copy of an identity card.

The Umno president claimed he had no control over any video publication regarding his statement on the media platform.

‘True Malay ancestry’

During this morning's civil court proceedings before judicial commissioner Gan Techiong, Mahathir claimed the allegation made it seem like he was not born a Malay Muslim.

"My father is Mohamad Iskandar and my mother is Wan Tempawan Wan Hanapi. My father is from Penang, and my mother is Malay, my ancestry has a bloodline originating from Southern India, namely Kerala.

"My mother came from Kedah and both (father and mother) have true Malay ancestry," Mahathir said in his witness statement.

Law firm Shahrul Hamidi and Haziq is representing Zahid while counsel Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali is acting for Mahathir. - Mkini