I did not order police raid on Najib’s home, says Mahathir

PETALING JAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says he did not order the police raid on the private residence of his predecessor and was not behind the odd hour it was conducted.

“I suppose the police had their reasons to conduct the raid. I don’t have the details.

“The police have their SOP (standard operating procedure),” he told a press conference at Yayasan Selangor.

The Prime Minister was commenting on the police raids on the private residence of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Taman Duta and two locations at Pavillion Residences in Kuala Lumpur.

The other locations searched were Seri Perdana and the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya.

Sixteen police cars and one truck were seen outside the Taman Duta home shortly after 10.30pm on Wednesday, with the operation to remove documents believed to be linked to the 1MDB probe lasting past the wee hours and into the evening yesterday.

Asked about his directive that the police should not be overzealous in their actions, Dr Mahathir said: “My instruction is very clear. I am not going to torture people and things like that.”

He added that he wanted people to be treated decently.

To a question on whether Najib’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor would also be investigated, Dr Mahathir said the police were tasked with investigating all criminal cases, no matter who was involved.

He said the investigation also involved several ministries and government bodies such as the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission and the National Audit Department.

Dr Mahathir, who is scheduled to receive Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Putrajaya tomorrow, said he would seek the latter’s help on the 1MDB probe if needed.

“If there is a need for me to ask him for help, I will ‘shout’ for help,” he said.

On the meeting, Dr Mahathir said no agenda had been set yet.

“If he raises any issue, we will discuss it but at the moment, I am still trying to figure out our stance with regards to certain issues which we have not finalised yet,” he said.

On China, Dr Mahathir said the Pakatan Harapan Government had made it clear that it wanted to look into all the contracts signed.

He said Malaysia could incur huge debts which it could not afford, but added that the Government would respect all agreements.