00:00Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad told the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday that Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad
00:08Zahid Hamidi lied to the public when he called the former Premier Mahathir Anak Lelaki Iskandar
00:14Kuti.
00:15Dr Mahathir, who was testifying in a lawsuit he initiated against the Deputy Prime Minister
00:21for alleged defamation, said there was no such identification card or IC that referred
00:26to him by that name from the time he was born until he graduated from university.
00:32In his witness statement, the non-Ajenen said his birth name was Mahathir bin Mohamad and
00:38that he was born a Malay Muslim, evident through his IC and birth certificate.
00:44He added that his father hailed from Penang and was a Malay, whereby his ancestors had
00:49roots from Kerala in southern India, while his mother hailed from Kedah and was pure
00:54Malay.
00:55Dr Mahathir, who celebrated his 99th birthday last month, addressed members of the press
01:00during the lunch break.
01:25Dr Mahathir filed the lawsuit against Ahmad Zahid as the sole defendant in July last year
01:46for allegedly issuing defamatory statements regarding the Kuti issue during an UMNO divisional
01:52meeting in Kelana, Jaya on July 30, 2017.
01:57The first day of the trial was presided over by Judicial Commissioner Gan Taichung.
02:02Previously, the proceedings were postponed several times after Dr Mahathir fell ill and
02:08was admitted to the National Heart Institute for Respiratory Issues.
Comments