Altantuya-Najib: Of course, Malaysians have to insist on a probe

By Wong Choon Mei, Suara Keadilan

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang ticked off Prime Minister Najib Razak for putting the country in a bad light, reiterating that a Royal Commission of Inquiry was critical to clear up the growing perception that the government was involved in covering-up the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder-and-commission case.

“It will not go away until there is a satisfactory investigation to get to the bottom of the allegations,” he said.

Najib has tried to distance himself from the death of the hauntingly beautiful 28-year, who was allegedly his mistress at one time.

But interest in the case has been gaining as two policemen await the gallows for her murder.

His cousin, the Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, has tried to ban any mention of Altantuya in the country by tacitly approving police action against those who did not toe the line.

But despite the suppression, questions persist as to who ordered the killing?

In fact, even while on a official visit to China, Najib could not escape questions from the international press, who threw a barrage of Altantuya questions at him.

“There’s no evidence. They’ve not offered any evidence at all. I have sworn in the name of God, of Allah, that I had nothing to do with her and I can’t go beyond that,” Najib said in Beijing on Thursday.

Of course, the truth must prevail

Back home, the Umno-BN media have persistently accused the Pakatan Rakyat of trying to play up the case to embarrass Najib. But the opposition coalition says its quest for the truth is justified.

“There is no purpose for Najib to clear the air overseas. In Malaysia, he seems to be hiding. Najib should clear this matter once and for all as this would undermine his leadership,” Kit Siang.

Not only were the two cops due to hang a part of Najib’s security detail, they did not know her until days before her death. And then, only after Najib’s aide-de-camp Musa Safri and his close associate Abdul Razak Baginda sought their help.

According to Pakatan leaders, apart from the high-profile murder, at stake is also the huge 114 million euros (about RM540 million) commission paid for Malaysia’s purchase of three high-tech submarines.

This hefty amount could have been used to reduce the one billion euros price tag charged by French shipbuilder Armaris, a whopping savings for Malaysian taxpayers.

However, the commission was disbursed to a firm controlled by Razak Baginda, alleged to have been Najib’s intermediary for the acquisition. The deal was sanctioned by Najib, who was then the defence minister.

Civil society leaders too have advised an independent probe.

“As they say, there is no smoke without fire,” Ramon Navartnam, past president of Transparency International had told Suara Keadilan.

“Until the questions are adequately and satsifactorily answered, the speculation will persist.”