Shukri steals the thunder from Najib at MACC

PUTRAJAYA: A horde of pressmen – both local and international – packed the entrance of the Malay­sian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters early in the morning here.

They had two very good reasons to do so.

The man being called up for questioning by the anti-graft body was none other than Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the country’s former leader. He was questioned for more than four hours.

Yet, Najib’s presence in the building was overshadowed by MACC’s new chief commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull, who gave a press conference at 11.30am.

In a jaw-dropping 45-minute session, Shukri dropped one bombshell after another as he related his experience as MACC’s deputy chief commissioner in the thick of investigating the SRC International case.

He gave an account of what transpired; starting from the day before the sacking of then Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail in 2015 – when a charge sheet had been prepared for the SRC International case.

He recounted how he had to flee abroad for fear of being arrested, how he received bullets in the mail and how he got the New York Police Department to provide bodyguards to protect him.

Shukri also spoke about being asked by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to return to work and head the MACC.

“I am not young anymore. I am a grandfather. But then here I was, facing a man who is 93 years’ old who has already come back from retirement and working very hard. I could not say no,” said Shukri.

Shukri was good humoured at the start of the press conference.

“I see there are many foreign press members here,” he said. “If you do not understand (the language), ask your local press friends. We are Malaysian so I will speak Malaysian,” he said, drawing laughter from the press that packed the auditorium.

His tell-all session was conducted in Malay and English.

Shukri rode a roller-coaster of emotions during the conference, being reduced to tears at several points and then swinging back to his upbeat mood.