A Malaysian Royal Commission of Inquiry has recommended that a police report be lodged against former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad for his handling of a sovereignty dispute with Singapore over an island, according to a report made available on the parliament website.
A criminal investigation should be held against the former leader, 99, for possible crimes of cheating under Section 415(b) and Section 418 of the Penal Code, according to the report that was declassified Thursday.
In 2008, the International Court of Justice ruled that Singapore had sovereignty over the island Malaysia refers to as Batu Puteh.
Malaysia filed an application for a revision of the judgment on Feb 2, 2017, according to the report.
The RCI found that upon becoming prime minister for the second time, Mahathir made the decision to drop the review in a letter to Malaysia’s Solicitor General on May 21, 2018, and that he only informed the cabinet of it two days later.
Mahathir in a press conference in June said the letter only contained his opinion on the matter, and that he hadn’t made a decision yet.
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“So the matter was brought by me to the cabinet and I explained everything,” he said. “The cabinet did not oppose, did not reject the idea that we should not go ahead with our move. So that was the final decision, the decision was made by the cabinet, not by me alone,” he added.
The outcrop, also known as Pedra Branca in Singapore, is 7.7 nautical miles from the Malaysian state of Johor and 24 miles east of the city-state. Almost 900 ships pass the island each day, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on its website.
The report was presented to Malaysia’s King Ibrahim Iskandar on Aug 12.
