JOHOR BAHRU – Malaysia’s top cop has denied an accusation by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad that he had been treated like a criminal during questioning by the police a few days ago.

Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Razarudin Husain, said the police were just carrying out their duties as part of their investigations into remarks made by the former two-time premier.

In an interview with Indian-based channel Thanthi TV, Tun Dr Mahathir had allegedly questioned the loyalties of the Indian and Chinese communities to the country.

He said the communities did not speak the local language but enrolled their children in their own schools, and spoke their own language, such as Tamil, at home.

“We will continue with the investigation. This is a police investigation; we need to complete it because if we don’t, then we would be seen as biased,” said Mr Razarudin on Jan 24.

Mr Razarudin said the police would need three to four days to complete their investigation paper on Dr Mahathir before handing it over to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Dr Mahathir had on Jan 23 claimed he was being treated like a common criminal for voicing his opinion.

He said he was a law-abiding citizen who merely spoke his mind and questioned if he was allowed to speak at all.

“Our country is supposed to have freedom of speech. This is my opinion. Others make even more racist statements, but it was okay. But when I say something, it cannot be accepted,” he said.

He added that he was informed 18 people had lodged reports over his recent interview with the Indian TV channel.

Dr Mahathir said during his session with investigators on Jan 23, he was asked a total of 19 questions.

“There were some questions that I answered, while others I simply responded that I would answer in court.

“They (the police) even showed me a 30-minute clip of my interview and asked me if I could see anything wrong with my statement, but I told them that I saw nothing wrong with it,” he said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK