KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2 — Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has today called for abuse of the law by the authorities to stop and come to an end, extolling instead a return for rule of law.

In his first posting of 2021 on his blog he wrote that no one should act above the law, no matter how exalted the person’s position is, and that the law is there to protect Malaysians, not used against them. 

In his blog post, Dr Mahathir also shared stories or rumours of people being detained for no reason, after comparing Malaysia with issues other countries faced. 

"In America a black man was throttled to death by a policeman kneeling with his knee on the neck of the unfortunate man. In France a black man was dragged and beaten by the police.

"But not here in Malaysia. We don’t see these kind of incidents. But there are rumours of people being detained for no reason,” he said.

He cited the case of former Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal and several of his friends who were arrested, detained for eight days and yet, no charges have been filed against them. 

He also cited several other rumours of persons being detained for no actual reason, saying that powerful people have been pulling strings and seem to be above the law. 

"This is Malaysia where we believe in the rule of law. These rumours seem to be contrary to the rule of law if they are true. These are frightening stories. I hope they are not true. I have no evidence to prove they are true. But the rumours keep circulating.

"They tell me not to say anything. It can hurt me. But this is not America. This is Malaysia. The Government must not allow these things to happen,” he said.

It is unsure what prompted today’s blog post. Dr Mahathir’s short-lived Pakatan Harapan government had emphasised the rule of law as one of its focus, but has now been replaced by Perikatan Nasional.