Mahathir: RCI accusations based on assumptions
The former premier reiterates his claim that the RCI on Bank Negara’s forex losses was formed with the sole motive of punishing him.
(FMT) – Dr Mahathir Mohamad charged today that the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) implicating him and Anwar Ibrahim in the foreign exchange (forex) trading losses of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) over two decades ago are based merely on assumptions.
“All of it (report) are based on assumptions. The assumptions are held up as facts for the police to act,” the former prime minister wrote in his blog.
“The RCI is not a judicial body. But its report looks more like the sentence given against those on trial.”
The 400-page RCI report said BNM suffered a total loss of RM31.5 billion between 1992 and 1994.
It proposed that the police open investigations into possible criminal breach of trust or cheating by various parties, including Mahathir and Anwar, the then finance minister (1991-1998).
Special mention was made of ex-BNM adviser Nor Mohamed Yakcop, whom the report named as “principally liable for criminal breach of trust”, while Daim Zainuddin, another former finance minister (1984-1991), was said to have aided and abetted Nor Mohamed.
Mahathir yesterday filed a suit to declare the report as null and void as it excludes legal documents of witnesses and notes of proceedings.
He also said oral evidence by witnesses, in the form of a written transcript or video recording, was not attached in the report.
The report also failed to include written submissions and legal authorities submitted by lawyers after the hearing, he added.
Mahathir has accused the government of ulterior motive in establishing the RCI to punish him after he joined the opposition to topple Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Mahathir’s lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla said he had written a letter to the RCI secretary Yusof Ismail on Dec 4 to include 495 pages of Mahathir’s legal documents and transcript of the hearing in both English and Bahasa Malaysia.
Haniff said any further printing and circulation of the report should cease until the matter was rectified.
In his blog post today, Mahathir claimed the entire RCI report focused on determining the involvement of the (then) prime minister, deputy prime minister and finance minister, and the head of Bank Negara’s currency trading division.
The accusations against him and Anwar were not supported with evidence, he said.
