KUALA LUMPUR: The police will question Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad over defamatory statements he allegedly made at the Bersih 4 rally last weekend, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said yesterday.

Khalid said the former prime minister will have his statement recorded under Section 500 of the Penal Code, which carries a two-year jail term, a fine, or both, upon conviction for defamation.

“We have to record his statement because we have received a police report from an Umno division leader, and also on the statement he made on corruption,” Khalid told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Khalid, however, did not say when Dr Mahathir will be called up.

At the Bersih 4 rally last weekend, Dr Mahathir and his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali were present on both days of the 34-hour event.

Among the things he said was that he did not support Bersih 4’s demands for reform, but only wanted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down.

Khalid said yesterday the police have a responsibility to act on reports lodged, and declined to comment when asked if Dr Mahathir, as a retired statesman, would be afforded any special rights.

“I don’t wish to discuss that (about special rights). He is a statesman and we will, of course, take good care of our statesmen.

“However, the police have a responsibility to act when a report is made and a wrong is allegedly committed. We need to conduct investigations and it is part of our standard operating procedure to take the statements of those involved in the case,” he said. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in digitaledge Daily, on September 4, 2015.