PUTRAJAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was given 19 questions to answer when a team of police officers met him at his office at Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana here yesterday.
“There were some questions that I answered while others I simply responded that I would answer in court.
“They even showed me a 30-minute clip of my interview and asked me if could see anything wrong with my statement but I answered them that I saw nothing wrong with it,” he told reporters after the police team met him between 3pm and 4pm.
The interview in question was done on an Indian TV channel recently.
The former prime minister said he was being treated like a common criminal for voicing his opinion, adding that he is a law-abiding citizen who was speaking his mind.
“Over the last few years, I have had my statements recorded by police at least 10 times.
“Once you become a Tun, you will be investigated.
“There are many who are not Tuns but who are doing wrong.
“Some of them are even mentioned in the Pandora Papers but no action is being taken,” he said.
He said he was informed that 18 people had lodged reports over his recent interview with the Indian TV channel.
Dr Mahathir said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed that he has billions stashed away but has not made any effort to prove his claims.
“As far as I know I don’t have billions. Anwar says I have so he must know something I don’t.
“I have filed a defamation suit and he must reveal the source of information he had,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Kuala Lumpur, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said Dr Mahathir ought to self-reflect in his old age rather than hurling accusations at others.
Fahmi was responding to Dr Mahathir’s remark on Monday where he said Anwar was only installed as the Prime Minister by default instead of through a big majority in a general election.
“Tun lost his deposit in Langkawi while Anwar won in Tambun.
“So I suggest that as a statesman, he should self-reflect in his old days and leave a pristine legacy instead of causing fear or playing such a narrative,” he said during a press conference at RTM Angkasapuri yesterday.
During Monday’s media conference, Dr Mahathir also accused Anwar and the unity government of using their position in the federal administration to intimidate him and others by launching corruption investigations.
This was after Dr Mahathir’s son Datuk Mirzan Mahathir and closest ally Tun Daim Zainuddin were investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Fahmi, however, said Dr Mahathir had perhaps created such a narrative in his mind, adding that the government is not meddling in any of MACC’s probes.
“The MACC is free to conduct any investigation it deems appropriate and Anwar has repeatedly said before that the government has not and will not meddle in MACC’s affairs.
“When it involves the rakyat’s money and property, the government has the right to examine the matter and it doesn’t apply to only an individual or just one group. It applies to all,” Fahmi said.
