Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohammed, who lost his deposit in the 2022 Malaysian GE, is being investigated for remarks that are allegedly related to disparaging the royal institution of Malaysia.

Investigation

According to Bernama, the 98-year-old recorded a statement on Aug. 29 to assist the Malaysian police in an investigation.

Statements from two other men, Khairuddin Abu Hassan and Marzuki Yahya, were also taken. All three men are former members of Pejuang, the party Mahathir set up after leaving Bersatu, the party he set up after leaving Umno.

Bernama cited the director of Bukit Aman's Criminal Investigation Department, Mohd Suhaily Mohd Zain, as saying:

"Their statements were recorded for investigation purposes under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998."

He also urged the public, according to the Malay Mail, to use social media "wisely" and not share statements that threaten Malaysia's harmony and unity, especially with regards to the "3 R" issues (i.e. race, religion and royalty).

Free Malaysia Today also reported that Mahathir's lawyer, Rafique Rashid Ali, said that the former PM had been questioned for about thirty minutes.

Second incident

According to the Malay Mail, this is the second time that Mahathir has been questioned regarding remarks he made around the time of his Malay Proclamation, which is Mahathir's initiative to "unite and restore the rights of the Malay community by putting aside all political ideologies".

He was first questioned by the police on Jun. 2.

While some Malaysian media outlets have been reticent to spell out in full what Mahathir is alleged to have said that led to the questioning, Bernama stated that it involved "disparaging remarks" related to royalty, and mentioned they were published by a news portal on Jun. 6.

While it is not confirmed if this is the exact article in question, a Malaysiakini article dated Jun. 6 quoted Mahathir as claiming it was "common knowledge" that Malay rulers during British colonial times would supposedly sell off plots of land to earn money.

Mahathir said this in response to being asked about his questioning by the police on Jun. 2.

Malaysiakini further reported that what supposedly instigated the first round of questioning was the surfacing of a video that allegedly showed the nonagenarian at a private event, making alleged disparaging remarks.

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