FULL REPORT KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has interviewed Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s younger brother Nazim with regard to the 2006 murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.
In confirming this, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz said MACC had also interviewed carpet dealer Deepak Jaikrishnan, in relation to private investigator P Balasubramanian’s statutory delcaration.
Balasubramaniam created controversy on July 3, 2008 when he distributed a sworn deposition in connection with Altantuya’s murder, alleging links between Najib, his close friend Abdul Razak Baginda and the deceased.
The next day, the private investigator retracted his statutory declaration and subsequently left the country with his family.
On Oct 27 last year, in the presence of three prominent lawyers, Balasubramian came out of hiding and reaffirmed that his first statutory declaration was true and that he was offered RM5million to retract it.
In the no-holds-barred interview, he named Deepak -- who is said to be an associate of Rosmah Mansor, the prime minister's wife -- as the person who met him at a Rawang restaurant and made the cash offer.
Balasubramaniam also claimed that he had been offered RM5 million by Nazim to retract the first statutory declaration, a charge which the prime minister rubbished.
In the Parliament lobby today, Nazri said: “Of course... we have taken action against them (Nazim and Depak).”
When pressed further, the minister refused to divulge more details. "If I said it we have, we have, that's it.”
MACC's offer rejected
In the Dewan Rakyat earlier, Nazri responded to Tian Chua's (PKR-Batu) inquiry into the status of Balasubramaniam’s allegations.
He said MACC could not continue with its investigations because it has yet to record Balasubramaniam’s confession.
"We don’t know where he is. We cannot continue investigations without his confessions,” he said.
"So we ask that the Honourable MP (Tian Chua) if he knows where he is, not to be afraid or worried as he (Bala) is only a witness, so there is no need to be worried," he said.
Nazri said the MACC hoped to get a statement from Balasubramaniam through his lawyers who however refused to divulge his whereabouts.
"The MACC at the early stages received e-mails from a lawyer who was said to representing Balasubramaniam and who placed several conditions under which the MACC could videotape his client.
"After discussions were held and the lawyer who sent the e-mail was identified as Americk Sidhu, the MACC sent a letter to the said lawyer to forward an official letter relating to Balasubramaniam's willingness," he said.
Nazri said the MACC then received a letter from another lawyer identified as Manjeet Singh Dhillon who represented Americk and repeating the same conditions.
"Among the conditions were that Balasuramaniam be spoken to in Singapore or London; and that all costs related to travel costs; hotel charges; transport; and meals for Balasubramaniam, Americk, and other lawyers present be borne by the MACC.
"Another condition was that the taping be done in English and that a copy of the videotaping sesion be given to him," he said.
Nazri said the MACC then sent a letter to the lawyers concerned to notify of its willingness to conduct the interview at the Malaysia High Commission in Singapore in English.
MACC was also prepared to pay for the return flights of Balasubramaniam, hotel stay, transport and food for him alone.
PKR rep: Government uninterested
He however said the MACC could not meet the conditions of the lawyers concerned to give a copy of the interview to Balasubramaniam as it came under the Official Secrets Act 1972.
"Further to that, MACC received a letter from the same lawyers who said they were not happy with the MACC who had used the word "secret".
"The lawyers also said the MACC was not entitled to do so and called on the MACC to retract the reply letter with the the word "secret" to enable them to get instructions from their client," he said.
He said via unofficial channels, the MACC was informed that Balasubramaniam did not agree to being interviewed in Singapore.
"Balasubramaniam's side also did not take any further action until their demands were met the MACC.
"The question now is whether Balasubramaniam really wishes to aid the MACC to complete the investigation? What was his real motive in making the SD to implicate certain quarters with the death of Altantuya?
Speaking to reporters later, Tian expressed disappointment with the government's “unwillingness” to probe the matter.
This proves that the government is not interested in getting to the bottom of the matter, he alleged.
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