Lawyer: Dr M's evidence missing from 'half-baked' RCI report

The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Bank Negara's forex losses in the 1990s did not include crucial documents supplied by Dr Mahathir Mohamad to the hearing, said the former premier's lawyer Hanif Khatri Abdulla.

Hanif told Malaysiakini that Mahathir had provided 495 pages of supporting documents and written submissions.

"Anyone who reads the report as it stands will only know of the purported findings and recommendations of the RCI, without actually knowing what materials were put forward by my client.

"That is unfair. As it stands, it is a half-baked report," he said.

In view of this, Hanif said he will be writing to the RCI secretariat on Monday to demand that the 495 pages be appended to the report before it is publicly circulated.

Hanif said if the secretariat does not provide a satisfactory reply by Dec 8, he has been instructed to initiate a judicial review proceeding to "correct" the report.

"We will seek a court order to prohibit the publication and circulation of the report, which in our opinion, was designed cheat Parliament and the public.

"It contains half-baked stories which are just to further the conniving and dishonest intentions of the ruling party," he said.

The RCI had concluded that Bank Negara made a loss of RM31.5 billion between 1992 and 1994 by speculating on the forex market.

Although the RCI primarily blamed former Bank Negara officer Noh Mohamed Yakcop, the commission also implicated Mahathir, along with former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim and Daim Zainuddin, for misleading cabinet.

Police investigations for fraud, criminal breach of trust and cheating are currently underway.- Mkini