DR Mahathir Mohamad’s lawyer has slammed the royal commission of inquiry findings implicating the former prime minister and Anwar Ibrahim in massive foreign exchange losses two decades ago.

Haniff Khatri Abdulla, who acted as counsel during the two-month hearing that ended on September 19, said the proceedings were filled with legally questionable conjectures.

“The materials referred to in the RCI proceedings, which were based on hearsay, conjectures, presumptions and assumptions, did not meet any legally acceptable level of credibility in coming to any such conclusion,” he told The Malaysian Insight in an immediate reaction to news of the tabling of the report in Parliament.

“When the RCI proceedings were conducted with the use of ‘laws of the jungle’ and ‘rules of a circus’, it comes as no surprise to me if the findings do not even meet the level of a pre-kindergarten product!”

The findings of the RCI report, which was presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on October 13, were tabled in Parliament today.

The commission had concluded that the losses involved a criminal breach of trust under Sections 406 and 409 of the Penal Code.

The RCI found that the country suffered losses amounting to RM31.5 billion between 1992 and 1994 due to Bank Negara Malaysia’s forays into speculative forex trading.

Blame also went to Nor Mohamed Yakcop, who took over the forex portfolios at BNM between 1986 and 1993, overseeing the management of external reserves and domestic financial markets.

The RCI found Dr Mahathir, Anwar, the late central bank governor Jaafar Hussein and his deputy, Lin See Yan, culpable, saying they were liable to be charged under Section 34 or 107 of the Penal Code for common intention or abetting.

Anwar was finance minister during that period.

“I am completely astounded that there are references made in the report to purported breaches of criminal law, such as criminal breach of trust, when in fact, the nature of the materials referred to by the RCI fell ridiculously short and is insufficient to reach such a conclusion,” said Haniff.

“It is a shame that despite the RCI report being presented to the King way back on October 13, it is only today – and by ambush, too – that the government is tabling it in Parliament, without giving any prior notice to the public of its intention to do so, and after all the brouhaha of the purported urgency of the matter, as announced when the RCI was set up then.

“It is worse that despite knowing on record that Dr Mahathir was recognised as an interested person by the RCI, and had been given the right to appear throughout the proceedings through us, his counsel, the government has yet to find it important to make a copy of the report available to him through us, as his counsel.

“There is a complete lack of respect and courtesy, as can be expected on the part of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government.”

He said Dr Mahathir’s lawyers would make a “proper comment” on the RCI findings after studying the report, once it was made available, and upon discussion with Dr Mahathir.

Meanwhile, Anwar’s lawyer, Gurdial Singh Nijar, said: “It is a facetious conclusion. It’s quite a far-fetched conclusion, considering the evidence given.” – November 30, 2017.