Anwar, Najib Clash Over Murder Cover-Up Claim
A high-stakes confrontation between Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim took a dramatic turn yesterday with both trading accusations over an alleged cover-up in the murder trial of a Mongolian woman.The day of attacks and denials began just before noon when Datuk Seri Anwar produced a key witness in the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu who alleged that the police omitted vital information he provided in the case.
This included a damning claim by him that Datuk Seri Najib knew the dead woman and had sex with her.
Later in the evening, Mr Najib lashed back, insisting that a statutory declaration filed by the witness was a 'terrible lie, a malicious fabrication' to damage him.
It was, he said, a 'desperate attempt' by Mr Anwar to divert attention away from a police investigation against the former deputy premier that he had sodomised his former personal assistant.
'I want to state in the strongest terms that I never met or knew this Mongolian woman,' Mr Najib said, adding that he has refrained from commenting on the allegations because the trial, now in recess, was ongoing.
The claims by Mr Balasubramaniam Perumal, who was present at Mr Anwar's press conference, were in the statutory declaration, or sworn statement, he had filed. In it, he alleged that vital information he gave interrogators was suppressed during the murder trial.
Abdul Razak Baginda, a former political adviser to the Deputy Premier, is being tried with two others over the murder of the Mongolian woman.
He had hired Mr Balasubramaniam, a private investigator, just around the time of the murder in October 2006. The PI was at first arrested for the murder but later released. He is a declared supporter of Hindraf, a group fighting for Indian rights whose leaders are behind bars.
His declaration also stated that Abdul Razak showed him a text message reply Mr Najib sent to him after the political adviser was arrested. Mr Najib allegedly messaged Abdul Razak: 'I am seeing the IGP (Inspector-General of Police) at 11am today...matter will be solved...be cool.'
Mr Anwar, whose opposition alliance made big gains in the March 8 general election, said yesterday that Mr Najib had feared that he would use the murder case to trigger his downfall.
Mr Anwar has claimed that his alliance will take over the government soon because of defections of elected lawmakers to the opposition.
But he faced a setback last week when police said they were investigating allegations that he had sodomised a male personal assistant, a claim he has dismissed as 'sheer fabrication' and an attempt by those linked to Mr Najib to short-circuit his takeover bid.
In recent weeks, Mr Najib, who is also Defence Minister, has been forced to fend off allegations that his wife and two others he knew were involved in the murder and were at the crime scene.
The face-off between the two politicians took another sensational turn when Mr Najib yesterday admitted that he had met Mr Anwar's accuser, Mr Saiful Bukhari Azlan, days before he lodged his police report.
'He had come to see me and he was traumatised. He said he needed help,' said Mr Najib, who insisted that he never directed Mr Saiful to do anything, including filing the police report.
Asked whether he believed Mr Saiful, he said: 'I wouldn't dare say...I thought he looked genuine... he was afraid. His hands were cold.'
The day ended with Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi trying to quash widespread rumours about the government imposing emergency rule.
'The government is stable...Everything is under control,' he said. (The Straits Times, Singapore)
***** With Anwar and Najib heading for a politically bruising duel, things look good for Pak Lah as he gets some breathing space to consolidate power. Who said Malaysian politics was boring?
Labels: Corrupt Politicians, Legal Matters. Murder, Malaysia Boleh, Malaysian Politics., Umnoputras - Blunders And Plunders.
posted by The Malaysian. at 7/04/2008 09:48:00 AM
19 Comments:
haha, that proves most critics wrong that the PM is sleeping all the time. Look, what a smart move he made: one stone kills two birds.
Waa..u so sure ah this is PM's plan? Just look at Anwar now, struggling pointing fingers to other direction. I don't think that this has got anything to do with PM. Don't simply assume.
hey, i think this is something planned by Anwar and his 'konco-konco'. He's playing the victim and when he saw an opportunity to bash up Najib, he quickly jumped into it.
Anwar's own case has not been resolved but instead of giving precise explanation about it, he choose to speak up about Najib's case.. And played his old trick of delaying information-"the next evidence will come in the NEXT FEW DAYS"....why not now? meaning you don't have the evidence yet and simply spreading rumors and allegations in you press conference? The one which you should use to explain yourself and your case.
I think the duo had just crossed the threshold of no return. but really, I don't see why everything must be connected to Pak Lah. with the 2 ambitious power players fighting for survival, to have a non-player in this will at least be the merciful thing for our country to still be able to function normally.
I don't think this is Pak lah's plan...I know Pak Lah now struggle to defend himself dari semua kutukan dan cemuhan rakyat terhadap dirinya tapi tak mungkin Pak Lah akan buat macam atas kepentingan sendiri..From my observation, all of this adalah plan Anwar. Secara kronologinya nampak logik semua ni plan Anwar...
i dun think that this has anything to do with pak lah..why him?it is more likely that it is planned by anwar, like reewoo said, they keep playing the old trick of delaying info. why wait? or maybe he is guilty? just wait and see..
Bravo Pak Lah....with all the kutukan..Pak lah is doing what he thinks is right - correcting past mistakes..he has allowed corrections to take it's own course . . . staring from the corruption case of Kasitah Gadam...Isa Samad (which should have been done long time ago)...the Tun Salleh Abaas issue...throwing out the Anwar's case. . . dropping all of those "so-called" corrupt minister's & politicions ...and i believe more will be apparent. I dont think Pak Lah will prevent it from happening.. unlike what Mahathir did. That's why Mahathir & his cohorts are also wary about Pak Lah's moves. In fact, everyone there should be wary. Now, Pak Lah is akin to a movie producer.. . he just allow the director, scripwriter, stunt director do their parts. . . .action, your turn may just be next
How about this story? Balasubramaniam tarik balik beberapa perenggan dalam SD yang beliau buat tempohari dan membuat kenyataan bahawa beliau didesak untuk berbuat demikian..Siapa yang desak Bala? Beliau ni 'orang' siapa sebenarnya?
mahyuddin
Untuk jawab soalan tu, kita kena tengok siapa yang sangat lantang menyokong SD Mr. Bala ni time mula-mula dia keluar?
Pak Lah is plying his game right here by keeping mum! The more you say the more mistakes it makes.
Whether Anwar's trick or Najib's involvement is true, sure these two is at a loggerhead now. One is the PM's pick of successor, and the other trying everything he could to stop it.
I think things won't just come out without reason or direction. Sure Najib has some involvement in Altantunya case, and so do Anwar's case.
But I still choose to believe Najib's involvement more than Anwar's sodomised. It's been long since we all know Najib's part in Altantunya's case.
A person blew up in an army bomb testing area, with explosives like C4 used, and the body language shown by Najib during Ijok's by-election. Who else has the authority to let people into an army area and access to C4 explosive?
As for Anwar's case, Najib seems to be a volunteer workers more than DPM because someone can just access to his home or office when facing problem? Then I should approach him for some explosive because I hated one guy out on the street so much I wanted to bring him to the Shah Alam area and blow him up!
This is my observation and opinion only. No mean of public's view.
Even if pak lah is not the planner, he is still responsible because he is the PM of the country and he had confidential reports implicating his successor and instead of carrying out his duty to us, the citizens, he is shielding murderers. That is pretty bad if you ask anyone. Why should anyone be above the law?
In the name of Allah please make the Deputy PM and his wife stand for trial. This is the only way they will get fair trial and clear their names and establish credibilty in our justice system. But the situation is very clear; their guilt prevents them from taking a bold step - the more they fight the more their guilt becomes obvious.
Malaysia is truely the country of clowns and we are the laughing stock of the world.
Yes, I think the DPM must go now before he is pushed out by the people. There should be no room for the criminals to run the country.
We Muslims are hypocrites. We never miss the opportunity to find faults with the Americans and the Brits, but we are cowards not to queation our own leaders who can get away with murder. What kind of religious beliefs are driving us forward?
Yes, I think you are right. We need to stand up to the political bullys !!!!!
We need to be careful how the situation is handled otherwise there might be total collapse of the democratic system.
Totally agree with anonymous 9:23 pm MYT, it is so ridiculous the rest of the world are even ignoring our country. It is an embarrasment !!
As Mahatma Gandhi used to say "The Truth remains the Truth even if it is a minority of one". Today in Malaysia Anwar is fighting a hard battle against crime and corruption at the highest level of the Government and he needs our support. If the people of this country do not support him then sadly we have no future. All our religious beliefs that we are "Servants of Allah" has no meaning what so ever.
It seems the Malaysian Government has particular liking for "Sodomy". Probably the Executives have thorough experience of it privately and cannot think of anything else to stitch up the opposition!!!!!
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