KUALA LUMPUR: Former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar has reportedly made a categorical denial of past media reports alleging that Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu was pregnant when she was murdered in 2006.
In a new video recording seen by Malaysiakini, Sirul said the reports were false and dismissed them as “provocation” and “speculation”.
“It is not true at all. It is not true at all, that the woman was with child, I clarify here,” he is quoted as saying.
The 2min 12sec video shows Sirul, who is in Australia, discussing past reporting about his case, and mentioning an unnamed woman, a pregnancy and speculation about who the father might have been.
He did not name the woman, nor the “certain person” linked to the case and speculation that he might have fathered the child. However, his references clearly appear to be hints about Altantuya, and the Prime Minister, Najib Razak, who was then defence minister.
In the past, various online reports have tried to link the Altantuya murder to Najib because of her reported affair with defence analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, an associate of Najib’s, who negotiated the government’s purchase of two submarines for the Malaysian navy.
Commissions involving billions were speculated to have been paid.
Although Razak was said to have had an affair with Altantuya, some online reports have speculated about Najib being involved, including speculation that Altantuya was carrying his child.
Najib has maintained that he never met Altantuya and has denied involvement.
In the video, Sirul categorically denied the allegations.
“Some media have mentioned, as have been carried by the mass media, including by online media, that uploaded certain facts which are inaccurate. What was reported is not true at all; what was reported is false, including the allegation that the woman was pregnant, and was with child at the time,” he said, according to Malaysiakini
Sirul and another former police VIP bodyguard, Azilah Hadri have been convicted of killing Altantuya and blowing up her body with military explosives in a secondary jungle on a hill near Shah Alam.
They were sentenced to death. Azilah is being held on Death Row in prison but Sirul fled to Australia after the Federal Court overturned their acquittal, and is being held in an immigration detention facility.
Malaysiakini said it had sighted the 2min 12sec video, in which Sirul talks about his case.
“It is not true at all. It is not true at all, that the woman was with child, I clarify here,” he is quoted as saying.
“Clearly this is provocation, as well as speculation played up by the media, as well as, this internet media, to portray that my case was so terrible and cruel.
“Clearly it can be seen here, as if played up like that, to link it (the case) with a certain someone. As if the baby was fathered by a certain person.
“It is all pure slander. I deny it categorically, the statement as well as the reports carried on the internet and in the media, which said that the woman was with child. It is not true at all,” he is reported to have said.
In an earlier video released last year, Sirul had alleged that unnamed parties are trying to use him to further their agenda, in an apparent reference to a long-running campaign to oust Najib from office.
Source from Free Malaysia Today News
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