Shafee: Najib didn’t have anything to do with Altantuya

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak never met Altantuya Shaariibuu nor did he have anything to do with her murder, says Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

He said he had asked Najib about Altantuya in 2006 after speaking with former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda while he was in lockup in Kuala Lumpur.

“‘Someone said you had breakfast with Abdul Razak and Altantuya. Is this true?’ Without batting an eyelid, he looked at me straight and almost through me.

“Najib said: ‘No, no such thing, I don’t know who this girl was and I have never seen her. I don’t think she has ever been in the same hotel overseas anywhere I was’,” said Muhammad Shafee, who spoke at length about the sensational 2006 murder during the Keluar Sekejap podcast with Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan yesterday.

Muhammad Shafee said the reason why he asked Najib that question was to evaluate his reaction.

“I was impressed that without batting an eyelid, he answered,” he added.

Earlier during the podcast, Muhammad Shafee dismissed claims by former policemen Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar that they had been framed for the murder.

Muhammad Shafee said it had been proven that the duo was at the murder scene in Puncak Alam, Selangor.

He also said Altantuya’s jewellery was found at Sirul’s home.

He pointed out that when the Mongolian woman’s body was found in Puncak Alam, only bone fragments and small amounts of body tissue were present.

“But not a single drop of blood was there,” he said.

He added that the fact that no blood was found at the crime scene was important because the police later found bloodstains on slippers belonging to Sirul.

“So where did this fresh blood come from? How did the police manage to obtain Altantuya’s blood? Because after the explosion, there was no blood.

“This blood could have been on his slippers after Altantuya was shot twice, but before being blown up.

“So, it is overwhelming (evidence) and they could not answer, so they said the police ‘fixed’ them up,” said Muhammad Shafee.

In Sirul’s interview with Al Jazeera on Nov 24, the former police officer was grilled by the Qatar-based news channel and he denied any knowledge about Altantuya’s belongings being found on him and also the slipper stained with Altantuya’s blood.

He claimed that those pieces of evidence were planted by the police.

Last Sunday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Sirul had not applied for a review on his death sentence and that only Azilah had applied for a review.

The review is crucial for Malaysia to invoke the extradition treaty with Australia, as Sirul can only be brought back to Malaysia if his death sentence is reduced to imprisonment.

Sirul and Azilah were convicted of the murder in 2009. The Court of Appeals overturned the conviction in 2013 and ordered their release.

During the prosecution’s appeal, Sirul fled to Australia. The Federal Court upheld the conviction and reinstated the death penalty.

He was arrested and detained by Australian immigration authorities in January 2015, but was released nine years later when on Nov 8 the Australian High Court ruled indefinite immigration detention was unlawful.