Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been subpoenaed to attend the Royal Commission of Inquiry investigating sovereignty issues regarding Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.
“Today, I received a subpoena to present myself on June 12 and provide a statement to the RCI on Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.
“I will attend as instructed. In fact, I had requested them to allow my presence in the proceedings since it began on May 21.
“My counsel and I have expected this as I’m linked to the issues deliberated in the RCI,” he said in a statement.
On May 21, Mahathir claimed the RCI had conducted its proceedings behind closed doors without notifying him or his legal team.
He said when his lawyers found out about the meeting, they had tried to put forward several applications and objections.
The objections include the presence of Md Raus Sharif, Baljit Singh Sidhu and Mohammed Ridha Abdul Kadir on the panel due to alleged conflicts of interest.
However, the objections were dismissed and the RCI continued without his involvement.
Open proceedings for public scrutiny
Mahathir has repeatedly called for the RCI proceedings to be open for public observation.
He added that it was pertinent for him and his legal team to follow the proceedings all the way to ensure all involved in the Pulau Batu Puteh issue were summoned and to hear what they had to say.
“A lot of accusations have been hurled against me in the open and it received extensive media coverage.
“And the accusations were even made by several sitting ministers who claimed I decided on the matter on my own,” he said.
Mahathir argued if ministers could make open accusations against him, it made no sense for his explanation to be made behind closed doors.
“I must stress that all decisions I made in the past were subjected to advice from lawyers and legal experts - both local and foreign - before being brought to the cabinet.
“This includes the previous administration that wanted us to file an appeal on the Pulau Batu Puteh case.
“And some ministers involved (in the matter) back then have been reappointed to the current administration,” he added.
In 2008, the International Court of Justice ruled that Batu Puteh belonged to Singapore and Batuan Tengah was Malaysia’s, while Tubir Selatan’s ownership was left ambiguous.
Malaysia filed a review of the ruling in 2017, but this was later dropped when Pakatan Harapan took power in 2018. The administration then was led by Mahathir. - Mkini
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