KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad returned to court today to continue his testimony in the defamation suit against Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The previous hearing was vacated after the 99-year-old statesman was admitted to the National Heart Institute (IJN) on Oct 16 due to a lung infection.
The former prime minister arrived with his entourage, including his personal doctor, at about 9.45am.
Dr Mahathir is testifying as a witness in his defamation suit against Zahid's remarks in 2017 alleging the former's real name was Mahathir a/l Iskandar Kutty.
On July 20, 2022, Dr Mahathir filed the suit and named Zahid, who is the Umno president, as the defendant.
Dr Mahathir stated that he genuinely believes that Zahid's reference in the alleged defamatory statement to "that person", "he" and "Mahathir, the son of Iskandar Kutty", explicitly referred to him.
He said his status as a statesman and an influential political figure in the eyes of the world was also skewed as a result.
The statement made out him to be a liar, untrustworthy, selfish and unethical while holding public office and unfit to be a leader or public figure, he said.