Malaysia’s former PM Najib Razak takes Islamic oath to deny claims he ordered model’s killing

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20, 2019, SCMP. Disgraced former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, 66, on Friday took part in an Islamic oath-swearing ceremony to proclaim his innocence in the murder of Mongolian model and translator Altantuyaa Shaariibuu, just days after a policeman sentenced to death in the case claimed Najib had issued the order to kill her, South China Morning Post reported.

“Since the time of entering the age of ‘taklif’ [having responsibilities] until this point, I have never ordered any individual to kill a Mongolian national named Altantuyaa Shaariibuu,” said Najib, who made the oath at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, drawing a crowd of over 1,000 people.

“I have not known or met the deceased. If I am lying, then may Allah curse me,” he said during the oath-taking, or ‘sumpah laknat’ – Malay for ‘swear curse’, which is often used to underscore a vehement rejection of an allegation or statement made against a person.

“And if I am speaking the truth, may Allah curse those who have slandered me and refuse to repent here and in the hereafter,” said Najib, who is currently on trial for over 40 charges of corruption and abuse of power linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) global financial scandal.

After making the oath, cries of ‘Allahuakbar’ or ‘God is great’ were heard ringing through the mosque.
Najib took the oath after former elite policeman Azilah Hadri, who is currently on death row for the 2006 murder, filed a statutory declaration saying Najib had explicitly ordered him to “kill and destroy” the Mongolian model because she was a “foreign spy”. Najib was serving as deputy prime minister and defence minister at the time.

Najib said it was the third such oath he had made related to the matter. According to reports, the last was in 2008 when he denied having met the translator, whose family recently urged Malaysian authorities to open a fresh investigation into the case.

Although Najib and his supporters insist the hit man’s allegations are part of a government conspiracy to see him behind bars, the Pakatan Harapan administration has dismissed these claims.

Azilah and Sirul Azhar Omar, both elite police commandos tasked as bodyguards to Najib, were sentenced to death by the country’s highest appellate court in 2015 after an earlier acquittal was overturned. Sirul however absconded to Australia, and Canberra has refused to extradite him as it has a policy of not sending suspects back to a jurisdiction where they may face the death penalty.

Najib immediately denied Azilah’s allegations, and pledged to take the oath to “prove” his innocence.

The ceremony, which is not officially recognised by Malaysian secular or religious law, took place in Kuala Lumpur after obligatory Islamic Friday prayers. Najib was accompanied by his wife, Rosmah Mansor, who is also facing charges of her own, and his daughter.

The oath is traditionally made by a Muslim to God and calls for divine punishment – the ‘curse’ – if one party is found to be lying.

The practice stems from the event of Mubahala, where the Islamic prophet Muhammad invoked a curse during negotiations with a Christian delegation to find out who was correct concerning religious differences.

The ousted leader, however, said he was unable to take the oath to protest his innocence in the 1MDB corruption matter, which saw billions in taxpayers dollars siphoned out of the state sovereign wealth fund.

Najib said that while he was prepared to do so, his lawyer told him he had “already made an oath”.

“That’s why I am still testifying under oath in court while being cross-examined and re-examined, unlike a certain future prime minister,” he said, taking a swipe at premier-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim, who several years ago when on trial for sodomy – a crime in the Muslim nation – had opted to deliver a statement from the dock rather than take the witness box.

Tags: Malaysia