KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the latest plot of his involvement in Altantuya Shaariibuu’s murder had been hatched by the government because the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and SRC International Bhd trials had failed to achieve the desired impact.
The former prime minister claimed the Pakatan Harapan government was suffering from a one-term government phobia and therefore needed to create a new conspiracy to slander him.
“I was informed that this new story from Pakatan Harapan would open the way for the government to detain and imprison me without bail. This is because there is no bail for murder cases.
“This is the only way Pakatan Harapan can silence me,” he said in his Facebook posting.
Najib claimed that his social media postings, which were complete with facts and evidence, had rattled the government.
“They are finding it difficult to counter or rebut what I post on social media or reveal in my speeches during ceramah (political talks).
“There are analysts who say that the facts I produce are the 'sharpest weapons'....The things I posted and revealed contributed to Pakatan Harapan's crushing defeat in the Tanjung Piai by-election,” he said.
Najib’s Facebook posting came after news of former police special action force (UTK) personnel Azilah Hadri's allegation that Najib had ordered him to kill the Mongolian national in 2006 became viral.
Azilah claimed that Najib, who was the deputy prime minister then, told him that Altantuya was a foreign spy who was a threat to national security and therefore needed to be silenced.
He made the allegation in a recent statutory declaration (SD) but Najib pointed out that the murder occurred 13 years ago and the hearing took hundreds of days over several years.
He said the trial and appeals had gone through various courts until the Federal Court upheld Azilah's and another former UTK member Sirul Azhar Umar's conviction and death sentence.
“Now this version of Altantuya being a Russian foreign spy and me wanting her dead have suddenly surfaced.
“This is despite the police clearing me of any involvement in this case after I ordered one of my officers to lodge a report against me last year,” he said, noting that Sirul had also previously sworn that he (Najib) was never involved in the murder.
Najib also questioned the logic behind the allegation of his involvement in the murder by chiding Pakatan Harapan politicians.
“Logically, if I was that powerful and cruel as a deputy prime minister who had ordered the murder of a woman who was extorting an associate of mine, I would like to ask why Pakatan Harapan politicians were all left unharmed after I became even more powerful as prime minister.
“It is also baffling why a Russian spy needs to extort RM500,000 from someone,” he said.
Najib, 66, also noted that even Azilah’s long time lawyer had expressed shock over the sudden appearance of his client’s statutory declaration.
Quoting a newsportal report, Najib said Azilah’s lawyer Hazman Ahmad had denied any role in preparing the SD and that he last met his client two or three years ago.
He ended his posting by saying that if one were to believe everything that had been alleged by a convicted murderer facing the gallows, then people should also believe the sworn testimony of a man that the 8th prime minister in waiting had molested him.
Meanwhile, Najib’s daughter, Nooryana Najwa posted that the latest allegation against her father was clearly an attempt to divert public attention.
In an Instagram posting, she described the allegation that her father ordered Altantuya’s murder as slanderous.
“My father is not a murderer,” she exclaimed in capital letters.