Dr M to keep mum until reading Mat Zain’s statement

(MM) - Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed said today that he will only comment on claims of a high-powered plot to remove Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail from office after reading the sworn statement by former senior police officer Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim.

He said it was difficult for him to respond to the allegations made by Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief Mat Zain in the latter’s statutory declaration as he did not know what these included.

“I haven’t seen it so I am not prepared to comment, because when reporters ask me, sometimes they do not get the facts right,” he said at a press conference here.

“After I have seen the SD, I will be prepared to answer your questions at length,” he added.

Last week, Mat Zain was cited by news portal Malaysiakini as saying he was part of a dinner meeting with Dr Mahathir, prominent lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and former Commercial Crimes Investigation Department chief Datuk Ramli Yusoff on August 10.

Mat Zain, in his SD, claimed that the meeting discussed the AG’s handling of opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s black eye incident, which happened when the latter was being questioned by police on charges of corruption and sodomy in 1998.

Also allegedly discussed was Malaysia’s loss of Pulau Batu Puteh, alternatively known as Pedra Branca, to Singapore at the International Court of Justice.

The new portal reported that the SD stated that Shafee informed Mat Zain of Dr Mahathir’s displeasure with Gani, who lead Malaysia’s legal team in the case, for allegedly concealing some vital facts.

Earlier today, Shafee denied claims of a conspiracy to remove Gani from office, but declined to comment further on Mat Zani’s allegations until he has gone through the SD himself.


Dr Mahathir sidestepped a question on whether he was unhappy with Gani’s performance, saying that there is no guarantee of success in the courts.


“I regret very much when he fails because he represents the government, but sometimes people fail in the courts.


“Innocent people have been sentenced to death and guilty people have gone scot-free when you go to the courts. It depends on how the case is presented to the judge,” he said.


Dr Mahathir, meanwhile, laughed off a recent report claiming that he had met with Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi over allegations that CIA agents have set up office in the AG’s Chambers.


“I heard about this. I have no proof, of course, but I heard that CIA agents have actually got an office in the A-G’s office. Maybe it is true, maybe not, I don’t know. The A-G has not confirmed it,” he said, in trademark sarcasm.


Last week, news portal The Malaysian Insider reported that Dr Mahathir had allegedly pressured Gani and Ahmad Zahid for a meeting, during which the former prime minister was said to have claimed that the AG’s Chambers had two CIA agents under its employ.

The news portal claimed that the home minister has since agreed to launch an investigation into the allegation. 


MALAYSIA TODAY