Former CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim today urged the police to start investigating his allegation that Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail had erred in the Pulau Batu Puteh case.

The police, Mat Zain said, should have been prompted into action based on his statutory declaration on the matter alone.

NONE Mat Zain was responding to the Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi ( right ) who was quoted in news reports as saying yesterday that the police could do nothing until a police report was lodged on Mat Zain's charges.

"Section 107 and 107A of the Criminal Procedure Code relate to information given to the police and their powers to investigate are very clear," Mat Zain said in a brief message to Malaysiakini .

"Zahid's intention is clear, to distract public's attention from the Batu Puteh issue which is turning hotter by the day. Zahid was trying to create a red herring of sorts. He should know that he cannot fool all the people all the time."

In a statement a few days ago, Mat Zain said he had handed a copy of the statutory declaration containing allegations of misconduct by Gani to Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Mat Zain also asked if Zahid was trying to protect Najib, who has remained silent on the issue even after the SD was sent to him on October 9.

Legal tussle

Pulau Batu Puteh - or Pedra Branca as Putrajaya now prefers to call it - is an island that has been claimed by both Malaysia and Singapore in a legal tussle that began in 1980.

pulau batu putih pulau batu puteh 230508 Eventually, Malaysia and Singapore agreed to resolve the matter before the International Court of Justice in The Netherlands.

According to Mat Zain, a three week trial was conducted by the ICJ in November 2007 and a decision was announced in May 2008.

Malaysia lost the case.

In his statutory declaration, Mat Zain said the Malaysian delegation to the ICJ, which was led by Gani, had submitted as evidence a controversial photograph purporting to show the close proximity of the island to Malaysia.

The photograph, which was retrieved from an anonymous blog, was seen as a deciding factor.

Singapore had produced another photograph, which was taken from the same location to rebut Malaysia's contention.

Singapore even managed to show that the controversial photograph was uploaded on the blog just four days before the oral proceedings commenced.

"By then, Malaysia knew that we were going to lose Pulau Batu Puteh.No one in their normal mind would even think the ICJ would rule in our favour," Mat Zain said.

Even though there have also been allegations of bribes to officials involved, Mat Zain said he was reluctant to make a report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Instead, Mat Zain reiterated to Malaysiakini that his purpose of penning the declaration under oath was to convince Putrajaya to establish a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) over the loss of Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore.

"I urge the prime minister to set up an RCI for a wider and more comprehensive investigation," he said.