Azilah’s claims are fabricated, says ex-PM

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has hit out at new claims that he had ordered Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu’s murder while his daughter came to his defence.

Najib labelled former police officer Azilah Hadri’s allegations that he had given him orders to kill Altantuya as a “complete fabrication”.

“Altantuya’s murder took place 13 years ago. The case has been through hundreds of days and many years in trial at the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court, which finally passed the death sentence.

“I instructed my officer to lodge a police report on this case last year. The police have said there is no evidence to link me to the case.“The other police officer who was given a death sentence had also sworn that I was not involved, ” he said, referring to then Kpl Sirul Azhar Umar.

In a Facebook post yesterday, he questioned why new details of the case had only now emerged.

“Suddenly there are details of (Altantuya being) a Russian spy and accusations that I ordered her murder because she was a spy.

“Even (Azilah’s) defence lawyer was surprised by the statutory declaration made by his client, ” Najib said, referring to lawyer Hazman Ahmad, who has denied any role in the statutory declaration.

“If you want to believe the statutory declaration of one who has been given the death sentence, then do we also believe the testimony that the future eighth prime minister had tried to sexually assault his male assistant last year?” he added.

Najib also criticised the Pakatan Harapan government, saying: “Pakatan now has a

phobia of being a one-term government, so they are coming out with new conspiracies to oppose and accuse me.”

His daughter Nooryana Najwa Najib also slammed the allegations that her father had a hand in Altantuya’s murder.

“My father is not a murderer, ” she stressed in an Instagram post yesterday.

“I just spent the last two hours listening to (former US) President (Barack) Obama speak about the need for political leaders to realise that you are in this position to do your job and work for the people.

“For a brief moment, I was rejuvenated. Then I came home to see such slanderous claims promulgated to mask certain parties’ incompetencies, ” she said.

She questioned whether such slanderous claims would keep spreading in the country.

“Who is the biggest victim in all of these never-ending games of betrayal and slander? It is the rakyat, our children, our grandchildren. Are we going to allow lies and deceit to be the new order of success in our country?” she asked.