It should not have become a criminal case involving the police, Mahathir added.
In excerpts from Capturing Hope: The Struggle Continues for a New Malaysia, the former prime minister said “you cannot talk bad” about Malay Rulers, but no such law places a crown prince in a “similarly exalted position”.
“Furthermore, as the Crown Prince indulges in politics and political commentary, he must at the very least expect to be criticised,” said Mahathir.
“Now, just because Patrick said something in the open, he was accused of insulting the Crown Prince.
“This is not a criminal matter that warrants the involvement of the police. If the Crown Prince felt insulted, he should have sued Patrick for defamation.
“Patrick should not have been detained and remanded. This is not the law, nor was it even in the custom of the royal houses in the days of old,” he added in the book which was released on Sunday.
In May 2020, Johor police crossed state lines to arrest Teoh at the Petaling Jaya police headquarters after the radio personality and actor was alleged to have posted an obscene sentence on social media when sharing a video of Tunku Ismail, better known as TMJ, firing automatic firearms during a military training exercise.
Teoh was later charged with improper use of network facilities by knowingly making an offensive statement against Tunku Ismail. He was released on bail, and it was last reported that the Johor Bahru Sessions Court had fixed Sept 7, 2020 for case management.
Ties between Mahathir and the Johor palace have never been friendly since a constitutional amendment was made in the 1990s, pushed by Mahathir, to strip the rulers of their immunity from criminal prosecution.
In 2019, Mahathir called the vocal Johor crown prince “stupid” and a “little boy” when he was posed a question relating to Tunku Ismail’s claim that many deeds by his father, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, had not been publicised.
When Mahathir made a tour of the state ahead of the general election in 2018 as Pakatan Harapan chairman, Tunku Ismail said Johoreans should not be “fooled by a forked tongue individual” responsible for stripping the powers of the Sultan – an apparent reference to the constitutional amendments of the 1990s.
Mahathir also came under attack from Tunku Ismail over PH’s move to ratify the Rome Statute in 2019 on claims the treaty threatened the royal institution. Putrajaya later dropped the plan.