Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has vowed to endlessly harp on the RM2.6 billion issue and will only cease and desist if the courts convict him of a crime.
Mahathir said this today in his first blog post after being questioned by police on Nov 6 over his remarks against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who received the massive deposits into his personal bank accounts.
"The courts may decide that I had committed a crime for what I did or said.
"But until I am found guilty by the courts, I will continue to believe and say that I have done nothing wrong, nothing undemocratic.
"So I will continue to ask Najib to resign, to disbelieve his explanation about how he got the RM2.6 billion, to criticise the loans taken by 1MDB and the losses incurred by it," he said.
Mahathir said this was his right as a citizen and to deny him this right would ‘really be undemocratic’.
"I openly declared that I don’t believe Najib’s RM2.6 billion is a donation from an Arab. I believe it is from 1MDB.
"Najib has not proven it is not 1MDB money. When you take something that does not belong to you, it is a kind of stealing," said Mahathir.
He added that his accusation Najib stole government money was only defamatory if the prime minister could prove this was untrue.
"Defamation is only defamation if you say something that is false about a person. Prove that what I said is false, then sue me for defamation. That is the way to go.
"So far he has not been able to convincingly prove that the RM2.6 billion in his private account did not come from 1MDB and therefore not from the government," said Mahathir.
'Do not create credibility'
Furthermore, Mahathir said Najib's attempt to interfere in the investigations about the deposits in his personal bank accounts only reinforced the allegations made against him.
"That practically proves that he feared the investigations might prove that the allegations against him have substance.
"Appointing other people to replace the original officers is interference in the work of the investigators. The replacements do not create credibility," the former prime minister said.
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