EXCLUSIVE In 2008, the late Sultan Mahmud Iskandar told the Johor legislative assembly: "Let us be reminded that I will not forget Pulau Batu Puteh... Pulau Batu Puteh is not Singapore's, it belongs to Johor. It does not matter how long it may take, I will find a way to get back the island..."
Five years later, a former high-ranking police officer is spearheading an attempt to nudge the government to bring those allegedly responsible for losing the island to account.
That person is former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim, a quiet and media shy ex-cop whose career was intertwined with politics after he was assigned to investigate Anwar Ibrahim's infamous black eye after he was sacked as deputy premier in 1998.
Since his retirement, Mat Zain has embarked on a personal mission to send open letters to the powers-that-be, urging them to take action against allegedly corrupt government officials involved in Anwar's first sodomy trial.
This time, he is taking it a step further with regards to the island, Batu Puteh - or Pedra Branca as the Putrajaya now prefers to call it - by penning an extensive statutory declaration (SD) about new information he has received on the subject.
Malaysiakini has sighted the SD and was informed by Mat Zain that a copy has been submitted to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
Call for RCI
In his SD, Mat Zain stated his purpose in penning the document under oath was to convince Putrajaya to establish a royal commission of inquiry over the loss of Batu Puteh.
The dispute over Batu Puteh began in the 1980. Eventually, Malaysia and Singapore agreed to resolve the matter at the International Court of Justice, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands. In May 2008, the court comprising 16 eminent judges ruled in Singapore's favour.
To back up his call for an RCI, Mat Zain's SD contained details of hisdinner meeting with former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and former Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Ramli Yusuff on Aug 10.
Among other issues, the meeting saw the posse of high-profile individuals discussing the Anwar's black eye incident as well as Batu Puteh, according to Mat Zain's SD.
The SD states that Shafee had informed Mat Zain of Mahathir's displeasure with Abdul Gani, who led Malaysia's legal team at the ICJ, for allegedly concealing some vital facts.
Back in 2008, Mahathir had made his disapproval known, stating that "Singapore sent their chief justice and a lawyer who used to work with the United Nations. We only sent our attorney-general, who is not very famous".
Caught red-handed
Mat Zain said the Malaysian delegation to the ICJ led by Abdul Gani had submitted a controversial photograph that was retrieved from, of all places, an anonymous blog as evidence.
The photograph depicted Batu Puteh in close proximity to Johor (left), but another photograph submitted by the Singaporean delegation disputed the authenticity of the photograph.
Mat Zain described the submission of the "concocted" photograph as a form of deception which had severely hurt Malaysia's case.
"I am of the view that we did not lose the island due to lack of evidence or facts, historical or otherwise.
"The team was ill-prepared, coupled with the fact that they were caught red-handed by ICJ while attempting to deceive them into believing that it (the island) is within close proximity to our mainland by introducing a photograph that was ‘concocted'.
"I would not think the ICJ would be so unkind to us to award Singapore an outright ownership of Batu Puteh.
"At the very most, they would have formulated some kind of mechanism for a joint-ownership or ‘twin sharing' of the island. This comes after the court recognises Johor (once) had sovereignty over the island," he said.
'I know what he is capable of'
Mat Zain drew parallels between the submission of the ‘doctored' photograph to his allegations that Abdul Gani had fabricated evidence in the course of investigations on Anwar's black-eye incident. At the time, Mat Zain was the investigating officer.
Abdul Gani (right), who was then a senior deputy public prosecutor, had allegedly introduced a medical report by Dr Abdul Rahman Yusoff which states that Anwar's injuries could have been self-inflicted.
"Having dealt with Abdul Gani many times in the past including the black-eye case, where I was the investigating officer, I know what he is capable of," Mat Zain toldMalaysiakini.
Five years later, a former high-ranking police officer is spearheading an attempt to nudge the government to bring those allegedly responsible for losing the island to account.
That person is former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim, a quiet and media shy ex-cop whose career was intertwined with politics after he was assigned to investigate Anwar Ibrahim's infamous black eye after he was sacked as deputy premier in 1998.
Since his retirement, Mat Zain has embarked on a personal mission to send open letters to the powers-that-be, urging them to take action against allegedly corrupt government officials involved in Anwar's first sodomy trial.This time, he is taking it a step further with regards to the island, Batu Puteh - or Pedra Branca as the Putrajaya now prefers to call it - by penning an extensive statutory declaration (SD) about new information he has received on the subject.
Malaysiakini has sighted the SD and was informed by Mat Zain that a copy has been submitted to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
Call for RCI
In his SD, Mat Zain stated his purpose in penning the document under oath was to convince Putrajaya to establish a royal commission of inquiry over the loss of Batu Puteh.
The dispute over Batu Puteh began in the 1980. Eventually, Malaysia and Singapore agreed to resolve the matter at the International Court of Justice, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands. In May 2008, the court comprising 16 eminent judges ruled in Singapore's favour.
To back up his call for an RCI, Mat Zain's SD contained details of hisdinner meeting with former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and former Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Ramli Yusuff on Aug 10.
Among other issues, the meeting saw the posse of high-profile individuals discussing the Anwar's black eye incident as well as Batu Puteh, according to Mat Zain's SD.
The SD states that Shafee had informed Mat Zain of Mahathir's displeasure with Abdul Gani, who led Malaysia's legal team at the ICJ, for allegedly concealing some vital facts.
Back in 2008, Mahathir had made his disapproval known, stating that "Singapore sent their chief justice and a lawyer who used to work with the United Nations. We only sent our attorney-general, who is not very famous".
Caught red-handed
Mat Zain said the Malaysian delegation to the ICJ led by Abdul Gani had submitted a controversial photograph that was retrieved from, of all places, an anonymous blog as evidence.
The photograph depicted Batu Puteh in close proximity to Johor (left), but another photograph submitted by the Singaporean delegation disputed the authenticity of the photograph.Mat Zain described the submission of the "concocted" photograph as a form of deception which had severely hurt Malaysia's case.
"I am of the view that we did not lose the island due to lack of evidence or facts, historical or otherwise.
"The team was ill-prepared, coupled with the fact that they were caught red-handed by ICJ while attempting to deceive them into believing that it (the island) is within close proximity to our mainland by introducing a photograph that was ‘concocted'.
"I would not think the ICJ would be so unkind to us to award Singapore an outright ownership of Batu Puteh.
"At the very most, they would have formulated some kind of mechanism for a joint-ownership or ‘twin sharing' of the island. This comes after the court recognises Johor (once) had sovereignty over the island," he said.
'I know what he is capable of'
Mat Zain drew parallels between the submission of the ‘doctored' photograph to his allegations that Abdul Gani had fabricated evidence in the course of investigations on Anwar's black-eye incident. At the time, Mat Zain was the investigating officer.
Abdul Gani (right), who was then a senior deputy public prosecutor, had allegedly introduced a medical report by Dr Abdul Rahman Yusoff which states that Anwar's injuries could have been self-inflicted."Having dealt with Abdul Gani many times in the past including the black-eye case, where I was the investigating officer, I know what he is capable of," Mat Zain toldMalaysiakini.
Contents of a book titled 'Pedra Branca: The Road to the World Court' written by former Singapore minister S Jayakumar and lawyer Tommy Koh, seems to concur with Mat Zain's claim.
The authors claimed, as highlighted by a Free Malaysia Todayreport, that the Malaysian delegation had employed somequestionable tactics during the trial, which they claim was a display of "a certain sense of desperation".
They claimed that the Malaysian delegation had deliberately translated a text wrongly, suppressed parts of a quotations used to support their arguments and adducing the distorted photograph as evidence.
On the preparedness of the Malaysian delegation, Mat Zain said that the inclusion of Abdul Gani's son Faezul Adzra, who had graduated from UiTM for no more than two years, in the ICJ hearing seemed to suggest that the Malaysian team lacked the necessary experience or firepower.
"This leads to question: Are there no other capable or senior person to assist Malaysia's legal team?" he said.
Previously, Faezul Adzra was embroiled in a controversy for reportedly going on a haj trip with Shahidan Shafie, who was once the subject of a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) probe that has since been dropped. Shahidan is allegedly a proxy for former MAS boss Tajudin Ramli.
Fulfilling the sultan's wish
In view of these developments, Mat Zain said Najib must order a RCI to look into how Malaysia lost Batu Puteh.
"This is about the sovereignty of the nation. This is about alleged treason and betrayal of the Agong and our country," he said.
He pointed out that the Najib government had established a RCI on Project IC which did not involve the loss of land, but the Batu Puteh case was more severe.
"Not only Johor lost Pulau Batu Puteh and its waters but most of all its dignity and sovereignty over the island which was rightly theirs."
Mat Zain said should Najib chose not to have a RCI, it was incumbent on his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, to push for it because he was from Johor and thus should fulfill the late sultan's wish.
He said Muhyiddin and all Johor state assembly representatives should remember that Sultan Mahmud Iskandar had pledged to reclaim the island.
In the SD, Mat Zain also asked Abdul Gani to be suspended and urged Najib to set up a tribunal to probe the AG for alleged misconduct - a course of action which the former top cop hadpreviously suggested.
When contacted for his reaction to Mat Zain's allegations, Abdul Gani told Malaysiakini: "Publish it at your own risk."
The authors claimed, as highlighted by a Free Malaysia Todayreport, that the Malaysian delegation had employed somequestionable tactics during the trial, which they claim was a display of "a certain sense of desperation".
They claimed that the Malaysian delegation had deliberately translated a text wrongly, suppressed parts of a quotations used to support their arguments and adducing the distorted photograph as evidence.
On the preparedness of the Malaysian delegation, Mat Zain said that the inclusion of Abdul Gani's son Faezul Adzra, who had graduated from UiTM for no more than two years, in the ICJ hearing seemed to suggest that the Malaysian team lacked the necessary experience or firepower.
"This leads to question: Are there no other capable or senior person to assist Malaysia's legal team?" he said.
Previously, Faezul Adzra was embroiled in a controversy for reportedly going on a haj trip with Shahidan Shafie, who was once the subject of a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) probe that has since been dropped. Shahidan is allegedly a proxy for former MAS boss Tajudin Ramli.
Fulfilling the sultan's wish
In view of these developments, Mat Zain said Najib must order a RCI to look into how Malaysia lost Batu Puteh.
"This is about the sovereignty of the nation. This is about alleged treason and betrayal of the Agong and our country," he said.
He pointed out that the Najib government had established a RCI on Project IC which did not involve the loss of land, but the Batu Puteh case was more severe.
"Not only Johor lost Pulau Batu Puteh and its waters but most of all its dignity and sovereignty over the island which was rightly theirs."Mat Zain said should Najib chose not to have a RCI, it was incumbent on his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, to push for it because he was from Johor and thus should fulfill the late sultan's wish.
He said Muhyiddin and all Johor state assembly representatives should remember that Sultan Mahmud Iskandar had pledged to reclaim the island.
In the SD, Mat Zain also asked Abdul Gani to be suspended and urged Najib to set up a tribunal to probe the AG for alleged misconduct - a course of action which the former top cop hadpreviously suggested.
When contacted for his reaction to Mat Zain's allegations, Abdul Gani told Malaysiakini: "Publish it at your own risk."
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