Firstly, let me state that in my statement this morning, I have not challenged former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to take a sumpah laknat to deny the latest allegation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that he was a recipient of kickbacks from bonds raised by former Goldman Sachs executive Tim Leissner for 1MDB in the monstrous kleptocratic 1MDB scandal.
As a non-Muslim, I will not issue such a challenge.
In my statement this morning, I had wondered whether this is what Najib would do if he had decided on taking the sumpah laknat route.
Many questions had cropped up following Najib’s announcement that he will take “sumpah laknat” to deny former Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri’s claim that he had ordered Azilah to kill Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Whose sumpah laknat will prevail if Azila is to take a sumpah laknat in Kajang Prison to reaffirm that his statutory declaration (SD) is correct and true?
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Hanipa Maidin has recommended that Najib file a defamation suit to counter Azila’s allegation that he (Najib) ordered the death of Mongolian citizen instead of taking a religious oath to that effect, as Azila will be subjected to cross-examination by Najib’s lawyer.
Hanipa said Najib’s plan to take a “sumpah laknat” tomorrow had little legal value.
Similarly, the controversy whether Azila had been brought out of Kajang Prison to meet with a VVIP in February this year cannot be resolved by the sumpah laknat route, but only by a full and transparent investigation into the allegation which was made by Najib’s counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and which had been denied by Kajang Prison.
(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Thursday, 19th December 2019)