KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed has hit back at the committal proceedings for contempt of court initiated by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi against him, saying that it was done with bad intention.
In an affidavit he filed on Feb 3, the nonagenarian said the committal action was ill-intentioned to put pressure on him and to give negative perception to the public that Ahmad Zahid had supposedly proved his case against Dr Mahathir.
Ahmad Zahid has yet to testify nor been cross-examined by Dr Mahathir's lawyers.
"I emphasise that this committal action is meant to destroy my image and reputation to undermine the merits of my claim," he said in the affidavit-in-reply.
On Jan 7, Ahmad Zahid was granted leave by the High Court to initiate contempt proceedings against Dr Mahathir.
The proceedings relate to Dr Mahathir's holding a press conference in the lobby of the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex on Dec 5 last year.
Dr Mahathir had shown several copies of documents, including his identity card to the media after testifying in his lawsuit against Ahmad Zahid regarding the “kutty” issue.
In the affidavit, Dr Mahathir stated that he did not give a different statement from his testimony in court and it was unreasonable for the defendant (Ahmad Zahid) to claim that he was trying to confuse or insult the court.
"There was nothing in my statement dated Dec 5, 2024, that criticises the court or questions the transparency or the court's justice system.
"All of my statements or testimonies have been reported in the press since the first day of trial and there were no objections by the defence," he said.
The veteran politician also said that Ahmad Zahid's contempt application was an abuse of the court process and an attempt to stifle his right to freedom of expression.
Dr Mahathir had completed his testimony in the lawsuit proceedings on Dec 5, 2024.
His son, Datuk Seri Mukhriz, took the stand as the last plaintiff's witness on Dec 9, 2024.
On July 20, 2022, Dr Mahathir, 99, filed the lawsuit against Ahmad Zahid, 70, as the sole defendant, for allegedly issuing defamatory statements regarding the "kutty" issue.
In his statement of claim, Dr Mahathir claimed that Ahmad Zahid had issued a defamatory statement against him during an Umno divisional meeting in Kelana Jaya on July 30, 2017.
The statement was reproduced on Astro Awani's YouTube channel and several online news portals, which can be easily accessed by Internet users without any restrictions.
Dr Mahathir claimed that the slanderous statement meant that he was not born a Malay or a Muslim with the alleged original name of "Mahathir son of Iskandar Kutty" and that he claimed to be a Malay when he became prime minister to gain political and personal advantage apart from belittling Malaysians of Indian Muslim descent.
In his statement of defence, Ahmad Zahid denied that the statement made on July 30, 2017, was malicious and slanderous and harmed the reputation of the plaintiff in the public eye.
The Umno president claimed that the name "Mahathir son of Iskandar Kutty" refers to an individual based on the information in an old copy of an identity card, in addition to claiming that he also has no control over any video publication regarding his statement on the media platform.
Ahmad Zahid is expected to testify as the defendant's witness on May 14 before Judicial Commissioner Gan Techiong.
