Former PM rubbishes claim as ‘complete fabrication’ and PH govt’s attempt to detain him without a bail

by ASILA JALIL/ pic by TMR GRAPHIC

A FORMER Special Action Unit (UTK) officer, who was found guilty for the murder of Altantuya Sharibuu, has made an explosive revelation linking former Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak to the gruesome murder.

Former Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri in a statutory declaration (SD) alleged that Najib and his associate Abdul Razak Baginda gave him the order to kill the Mongolian national, according to an exclusive report by Malaysiakini.

Azilah, who is on death row at Kajang prison, admitted he and another former UTK personnel Sirul Azhar Umar killed Altantuya following a “shoot to kill” order he received from Najib.

Najib was the deputy PM (DPM) and also defence minister at the time of the murder in 2006. The Malaysiakini report cited the SD as being filed on Oct 17.

Azilah is seeking a review of his conviction and death sentence from the Federal Court. The application was filed early this month. Azilah is also seeking a retrial in an open court.

The court has fixed today for the case management before the deputy registrar of the Federal Court.

In his SD, Azilah claimed Najib had ordered him to “arrest and destroy” Altantuya, whom Najib said was a “foreign spy” and a “threat to national security”.

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].”

“The DPM reminded me to carry out this covert operation carefully and with a high level of security and secrecy as it involved a threat to national security,” Azilah said.

Najib, however, rubbished Azilah’s claims, claiming it was “a complete fabrication” made by a “desperate person seeking to escape the gallows”, according to Free Malaysia Today.

Najib said on his Facebook that the allegation was an attempt to detain him without a bail. He said his 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and SRC International Sdn Bhd trials do not have the impact desired by Pakatan Harapan (PH), while efforts by the government’s cybertrooper and its propaganda are lagging behind.

“PH has a phobia with the title of one-term government. Therefore, they have to come up with a new conspiracy to accuse me,” Najib said yesterday.

But Azilah’s SD detailed the events leading to the murder.

Azilah said he was told to be cautious of Altantuya as she was a foreign spy and a smart talker, and could claim to be pregnant.

“I told the DPM that a police report had to be made on this matter and I would ask for help from my friend at the Brickfields police headquarters, but this was turned down by the DPM.

“The DPM stated that this [matter] could not be publicly known as it [involved] a threat to national security. The DPM then instructed me to carry out a covert operation to arrest and destroy the spy secretly and destroy her body using explosives,” he claimed in his SD.

The Malaysian Reserve was not able to verify the SD and the news article.

Meanwhile, Bukit Aman CID director commissioner Datuk Huzir Mohamed told a press conference yesterday that Bukit Aman will verify the authenticity of the SD before taking further action.

He said the police have yet to see the SD as the authenticity is yet to be known.

Altantuya was murdered and her body destroyed using C4 explosives on Oct 18, 2006, in Shah Alam.

The Shah Alam High Court handed the death sentence to Azilah and Sirul on April 9, 2009, after a gruelling 159-day trial.

However, Sirul and Azilah were acquitted by the Court of Appeal before the Federal Court overturned the acquittal of both individuals on Jan 13, 2015.

The Federal Court found them both guilty of murder and sentenced them to death. Sirul, however, fled to Australia to seek asylum.