Batu Puteh: Police report lodged

Johor PAS lodged a police report today against former foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar for having been ‘careless’, resulting in the loss of sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore.

Also named were two key individuals who were alleged to share responsibility in the matter - Johor Menteri Besar Ghani Othman (right) and Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail (left) .

Johor PAS information chief Mazlan Alimin, who was accompanied by about 30 people, said the government had been careless and irresponsible in allowing Singapore to occupy the uninhabited island.

“They did not do anything against Singapore when it constructed buildings and a light house on the island,” said Mazlan after lodging the report at central police station in Johor Baru.

“This (gave the impression that) the government had recognised Singapore as the owner (of Pulau Batu Puteh).”

Last Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in favour of Singapore, in the 28-year sovereignty dispute with Malaysia over Pulau Batu Puteh, a strategically-located island about half the size of a football field.

Mazlan said Johor PAS has been fighting to stake sovereignty over the island since 1992, by submitting a number of memoranda to the government. It has also held protests at the Pulau Batu Puteh jetty.

While he said he respects the ICJ decision, Mazlan noted that “this is an embarrassing result” for Malaysians.

‘Set up tribunal’

He further called for a special tribunal to be set up to separately investigate the trio named in the police report.

“The 58-page ICJ verdict should be made public so that (people) know what triggered the outcome,” he said.

Mazlan added that Johor PAS is working with several lawyers to consider whether the government can be taken to court over the loss of the island.

Malaysia claimed original title to Pulau Batu Puteh while Singapore, which knows the islet as Pedra Branca, argued that sovereignty had passed to it tacitly. It has operated the Horsburgh Lighthouse on the island for more than 130 years without any protest from its neighbour.

The court found that the Malaysian sultanate-turned-province of Johor had held the original title but had taken "no action at all" regarding the island for more than a century.

Pulau Batu Puteh, a granite island, is considered important for its strategic position and impact on territorial marine boundaries. It lies 7.7 nautical miles off Johor on the eastern approach to the Singapore Strait from the South China Sea. (See map below)

The 16-member panel in a 15 to 1 decision said Malaysia has sovereignty over one of the island's two rocky outcrops - Middle Rocks, which lies south of Pulau Batu Puteh.

On the other outcrop named South Ledge, the court handed a 15 to 1 judgment stating that it belonged to "the state in the territorial waters of which it is located".

The court however did not specify whether the territorial waters belong to Malaysia or Singapore.