Shafee’s affidavit a load of rubbish, says ex-cop Mat Zain

Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has been appointed the DPP in Putrajaya's bid to reverse the High Court ruling that acquitted Anwar Ibrahim of a sodomy charge last year. - The Malaysian Insider pic, December 12, 2013.Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim has described Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's affidavit in reply to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's second application to disqualify the Umno lawyer from acting as deputy public prosecutor as "a load of rubbish".

The former Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department chief also welcomed Shafee's earlier statement that he would expose Mat Zain's relationship with Anwar.

"I now challenge Shafee to demand the prime minister to order a full-scale investigation into my SD (statutory declaration).

"I will scrutinise Shafee's affidavit line by line and record my observations in my next SD. As it stands now, I can say that his affidavit is imperfect and a load of rubbish.

"I reserve my right to take on the next course of action," said Mat Zain.

Shafee had been appointed DPP by Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and will appear for Putrajaya in its bid to reverse the High Court ruling that acquitted Anwar of a sodomy charge last year.

Anwar's first application to recuse Shafee on grounds that it was against the law was dismissed by the Federal Court last month.

Anwar is now relying on Mat Zain's SD in his second attempt to disqualify Shafee.

Shafee, in his affidavit, had said Mat Zain's SD merely showed that the former police officer was an "angry man" over the way the authorities dealt with him regarding the 1998 "black eye" incident.

Mat Zain, in his statement today, said he knew Shafee's intention was malicious but still welcomed the expose on his so called relationship with Anwar.

The former police officer said he had been labelled as Anwar's lapdog, or "chief barua", among others, for his refusal to unlawfully take the former deputy prime minister's blood sample for a DNA test in 1998.

"So one more humiliation created by Shafee won't make any difference. It may well be a blessing in disguise since the government might be forced to look into the cases I have mentioned in my SD," he said.

Mat Zain said the people were more interested to know why Shafee called him to his office through former Commercial Crime Department director Datuk Ramli Yusuf and later took them to meet former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"Or can he tell the public, if it was really Dr Mahathir who wanted to see me or was it Shafee himself who planned the meeting for his own personal benefit?" he asked.

Mat Zain also pointed out that Shafee must explain to the court the reason he concealed a material fact that he had acknowledged receipt of a bundle of documents from him on September 24.

Mat Zain said his meeting with Shafee, together with Ramli, was on August 10, not a day earlier as mentioned in Shafee's affidavit.

He also warned Shafee that he had proof to show that it was Shafee who had wanted to meet him and Ramli, and not the other way around, as claimed in the affidavit.

Mat Zain also asked Shafee to disclose what was discussed at his office and later at Dr Mahathir's house in Seri Kembangan.

"If Shafee says that Gani's conduct in the Pulau Batu Puteh was never discussed during the one hour meeting in his office and later for another hour in Dr Mahathir's house, then he should tell what was the subject matter that was discussed," he said.

Mat Zain said Shafee was a public servant in his capacity as DPP and under the law, he was required to provide information of offences allegedly committed.

"As a lawyer, he is bound by the Legal Profession Act when acting as prosecutor and he shall not surpress material facts establishing the innocence of accused persons," he said.

Mat Zain said he would be making a second SD to further explain the full discussion Shafee had with Ramli in his presence with regards to Ramli's suit against Gani and several others.

He said his SD could only be declared false only after an investigation, not based on what Shafee had stated in his affidavit.

"I challenge Shafee now to demand that the prime minister order a full scale investigation into the contents of the SD and he (Shafee) knows where he stands.

"Shafee may well find that his affidavit is the one that had been slanted," he said.

Mat Zain, in his 31-page SD, had said that he went with Shafee and Ramli to Dr Mahathir's house during the Hari Raya period this year where they allegedly discussed the wrongdoings of Gani.

However, Shafee had said that the idea for Mat Zain to go to Dr Mahathir's house was only decided impromptu in his office and there was no agenda except to pay respect to Dr Mahathir during the festive season.

Shafee had also denied that he was involved in any meeting to discuss Gani's conduct or the Pulau Batu Puteh issue. He had also said that he did not insinuate or mention about funds being transferred into a bank account in Hong Kong after the Pulau Batu Puteh case was decided by the international court.

Anwar's application to recuse Shafee will be heard on December 19.

Anwar, among others, had disclosed in his application last Friday that Shafee knew of Gani's actions but the lawyer deliberately suppressed important evidence, especially on the Pulau Batu Puteh territorial dispute between Malaysia and Singapore.

Further, the SD pointed towards Gani and Musa's involvement in fabricating evidence in the infamous "black eye" incident.

As such, Anwar had said, Shafee was not a fit and proper person to be appointed deputy public prosecutor to lead the prosecution team.

He had added that Shafee would not be able to comply with the requirement of the Legal Profession (Practice and Etiquette) 1978 to conduct the appeal.

Anwar had also said that he would not receive a fair hearing if Shafee were to lead the prosecution team.