PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Razak gave the order to kill Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu, claimed former police commando Azilah Hadri, who is on death row for her murder.
The former chief inspector from the elite special force special actions unit (UTK) claimed that in 2006, Najib, who was then deputy prime minister and defence minister, had ordered him to “shoot to kill” Altantuya as she was a “dangerous foreign spy”.
Azilah said this in a shocking allegation filed in a statutory declaration (SD) along with his application seeking the Federal Court to review its decision on his conviction and the death sentence imposed on him and Sirul Azhar Umar, a former corporal and police commando, in 2001.
The 17-page long SD in Bahasa Malaysia was filed by Azilah’s lawyer J. Kuldeep Kumar on Oct 17 as part of his application seeking the Federal Court review. The court has fixed today for case management.
The SD detailed how Azilah was brought to Najib’s residence Seri Kenangan in Pekan, his parliamentary constituency, while he was on duty.
He stated that Najib not only ordered the killing but also requested that explosives from the UTK armoury be used to get rid of Altantuya in a covert-style operation only to be known to a small group.
This group included Najib’s then aide-de-camp Musa Safri, his then special officer Abdul Razak Baginda and Sirul.
Azilah said Najib and Abdul Razak described Altantuya as “a smart talker and cunning who will lie that she is pregnant”.
He added that Najib rewarded him with RM300 as “duit raya” after the execution and repeatedly guaranteed that all would be fine as Azilah was merely doing a national duty.
Among the more interesting excerpts from the SD are:
> Oct 17,2006: On official duty at Sri Kenangan DSP, Musa told me that the DPM wanted to see me. Musa told me that there was an assignment to be carried out in Kuala Lumpur. I asked Musa what the assignment was. Musa replied: “Secret assignment involving state security.”
> The DPM then told me that a foreign spy was in Kuala Lumpur and trying to threaten the DPM and his special officer known as (Abdul) Razak Baginda.
> The DPM then instructed me to carry out a covert operation to arrest and destroy the spy secretly and destroy her body using explosives. I asked the DPM what he meant by “arrest and destroy the foreign spy” and he responded: “Shoot to kill, ” indicating a “neck cut signal”.
Asked about the purpose of destroying the foreign spy with explosives, the DPM replied: “Dispose of the foreign spy’s body with an explosive device to remove the traces. The explosives can be obtained from the UTK store (armoury).”
> Razak Baginda replied that she had knowledge of the details of the country’s security assets, about the personal relationship of the DPM and Razak Baginda with that foreign spy.
> If any issues arose, I should not worry because the DPM would “back me up”.
> I contacted Razak Baginda, Musa and the DPM and informed them about Sirul’s involvement in this covert operation and obtained their permission. The DPM told me “proceed”... I assigned the job of immediately obtaining explosives from the UTK armoury to Sirul because of the urgency of this covert operation.
> Before the foreign spy was killed, she informed me that she knew it was “Mr Razak” who had sent me and Sirul to kill her. When I asked her who she meant by “Mr Razak”, the woman replied: “Deputy prime minister.” The foreign spy also told me that she was pregnant.
Immediately after the covert operation, I telephoned Razak Baginda and informed him that the covert operation had been carried out and Razak Baginda replied, “Okay.”
> The DPM then called me into a room and gave me RM300 as Raya money and he told me that he was satisfied with the covert operation that Sirul and I had carried out. The DPM congratulated me and was happy that the covert operation was completed while reminding me to keep it a secret. I agreed.
> The DPM said he would assist in whatever issues arose and that it was important that the covert operation be kept secret without fail.
In an immediate response, Bukit Aman said it had yet to see the SD.
“Therefore, we have to check its authenticity. We will decide on further action after the SD has been checked, ” Bukit Aman CID
director Comm Datuk Huzir Mohamed told a press conference at the Selangor police headquarters yesterday.
In 2009, Azhar and Sirul were convicted and sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court for killing the Mongolian woman in Mukim Bukit Raja, Klang, between 10pm on Oct 19,2006, and 1am on Oct 20,2006.
Former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, who was jointly charged with them, was acquitted by the High Court on Oct 31,2008, after the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against him.
The prosecution did not appeal his acquittal.
However, on Aug 23,2013, the Court of Appeal overturned the Shah Alam High Court’s decision to convict the duo, sparing them from the gallows.
The panel chaired by Justice Mohamed Apandi Ali, in a 47-page judgment, held that circumstantial evidence adduced by the prosecution was insufficient and that the duo’s guilt had not been satisfactorily proven.
In 2015, the Federal Court convicted Azilah and Sirul for murdering Altantuya.
Justice Suriyadi Halim Omar ruled that the prosecution had proven its case against the two accused beyond reasonable doubt.
Attempts were made to contact the lawyers of Azilah and Sirul but as at press time, they had yet to respond.
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