Former premier Najib Abdul Razak perfomed a “sumpah laknat” denying he had ordered the killing of Altantuya Shaariibuu.
A sumpah laknat is an oath, beseeching God to curse those who are in the wrong.
The oath was taken after Najib performed his Friday prayers at the Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.
“Wallahu, Wabillahi, Watallahi.
“Alhamdulillah, since the time of entering the age of ‘taklif‘ [having responsibilities] up to this point, I have never ordered any individual to kill a Mongolian national named Altantuya Shaariibuu.
“I have not known or met the deceased. If I am lying, then may Allah SWT curse me.
“And if I am speaking the truth, may Allah curse those who have slandered me and refuse to repent here and in the hereafter,” he said.
Najib’s sumpah laknat was in response to former police special action force (UTK) officer Azilah Hadri accusing the former premier of ordering Altantuya’s murder in 2006.
In his statutory declaration (SD) from death row in the Kajang prison, Azilah alleged Najib convinced him that Altantuya was a foreign spy who posed a threat to national security.
The former chief inspector’s SD was filed together with his application seeking a retrial and judicial review of the Federal Court’s decision to reinstate his and another former UTK personnel Sirul Azhar Umar’s conviction and death sentence in 2015.
Sirul had fled to Australia when the Court of Appeal acquitted the pair in 2013 and is currently in an immigration detention centre in Sydney.
[More to follow]
– M’kini
Najib creating ‘drama’ with ‘sumpah laknat’ oath, says Kit Siang
NAJIB Razak is just “creating drama” over his plan to perform the “sumpah laknat” later today to deny having any role in the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang said.
Lim questioned the former prime minister’s need to perform the Islamic oath seeking divine retribution upon liars when his own defence lawyer had already said Najib wanted police to reinvestigate the 2006 murder.
Lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah had told reporters this in response to a statutory declaration by Altantuya’s convicted killer, Azilah Hadri, who had named Najib as the mastermind behind her murder.
“Can Najib confirm this and let the reinvestigation of the Altantuya murder begin without any other drama?” Lim, who is also Iskandar Puteri MP, said in a statement today.
The DAP adviser said if what Shafee said was true, there is no need for Najib to perform a sumpah laknat.
Najib is to take the oath at Masjid Jamek in Kg Baru today after Friday prayers to deny that he had played any role in the 2006 killing of Altantuya. He was deputy prime minister then.
This comes after Azilah, a former police commando and member of Najib’s security detail, said in a statutory declaration dated October 17 this year that Najib had given him direct instructions to kill the Mongolian interpreter and to “remove any traces” of her by using explosives.
Najib had taken to Twitter to say he will take the oath seeking divine retribution for those who lie.
“I have the intention of performing the sumpah laknat to deny the allegation by convicted killer Azilah Hadri, who accused me of ordering the killing of Altantuya,” he had tweeted.
– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/
Why is Najib so afraid of Azilah’s latest allegation? If he were innocent, he should have nothing to fear, whether or not there is a retrial.
ReplyDeleteMany Malaysians are not surprised by Azilah’s allegation. They are only surprised by the timing. Why now?
Najib has tried to portray this allegation as a character assassination. He forgets that when he was in power, his word was law. No-one dared to oppose him.
This will explain why Azilah did not make the allegation at the time, he knew that he would not have been believed. Moreover, those who knew too much, came to serious harm, or ended up in oil drums, or were gunned down. Others have been sacked or discredited.
Remember the private investigator P Balasubramaniam (Bala)? The police recorded no less than five statements from him, but all the references to Najib were deleted. Why?
When Bala discovered that his testimony as a witness in Altantuya’s murder was withheld, and the evidence suppressed, he felt it necessary to make a statutory declaration (SD). His family was then threatened and his silence was bought to force him to retract his SD. One day later, he issued a sanitised version of the SD.
Bala and his team of lawyers held a press conference in London, on July 7, 2010. This was supposed to be a platform to discuss issues raised during a scheduled interview of Bala by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). When the MACC cancelled at the last minute, their non-appearance generated more questions than answers.
So why did Azilah wait until now to make this explosive allegation? Perhaps he wanted to see if he could trust the new Pakatan Harapan administration. Perhaps, he worried that it would fold within months of winning GE-14.
He and Sirul once acted as Najib’s bodyguards. On the night of Altantuya’s abduction, Nasir Safar (Najib’s aide) and Musa Safri, (Najib’s ADC) were seen outside Baginda’s house. What information do they have?
When Baginda was arrested, his wife, Mazlinda was hysterical and shouted, “Why charge my husband? He does not want to be the prime minister.” This was an apparent reference to Bala’s statement that Najib had “passed” Altantuya to Baginda, because Malaysians would not approve of a future PM who had a foreign mistress. Najib would eventually succeed Abdullah Badawi as PM. Azilah’s allegation now provide us with another motive.
The trial revealed many unexplained phone texts between Najib and Baginda’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah. This was interference at the highest level. One text message read, “…pls do not say anything to the press today. i will explain later. RB (Razak Baginda) will have to face a tentative charge, but all is not lost.” (sic)
It looks like Altantuya and the Scorpene submarines have one thing in common. Both have the potential to sink Najib.