Mahathir denies treason charges, calls for investigation

Last Updated on December 13, 2024 10:41 am

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has denied charges of treason against the country. He also called for a criminal investigation against him.

The British news agency Reuters reported this information in a report on Tuesday (December 10).

Malaysia and Singapore have been in a long-standing dispute over the possession of two islands in the Singapore Strait, Pedra Branca and South Ledge, which are 113 kilometers long and 19 kilometers wide. In 2008, the United Nations court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), declared the two islands as Singaporean territory. The then Malaysian government appealed against this ruling. However, Malaysia withdrew the appeal in 2018. Mahathir Mohamad was the country’s prime minister at the time.

The country’s Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) last week approved a criminal investigation into Mahathir, 99, over his decision to give up the disputed islands.

Mahathir told reporters on Tuesday that the decision to withdraw the islands was taken by the then cabinet on the advice of legal experts.

He questioned why the cabinet members were not called as witnesses or subjected to similar investigations. He said that if the people who were present at the cabinet meeting wanted to complain or object to the decision, they could have done so. But no one said anything.

Malaysia’s current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had requested an investigation into the matter by the RCI a few months ago. Accordingly, the RCI submitted a 217-page report on Thursday after the investigation. It approved the opening of a criminal investigation against Mahathir for giving up ownership of the islands and possible corruption charges.

Mahathir has described the RCI as politically motivated and claims it aims to tarnish his reputation. He rejected Anwar’s claim that the investigation’s findings prove treason by Mahathir’s government.