INTERVIEW Former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan revealed that then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had in 2007 summoned the top echelon of the police force to grill them on allegations that his deputy was involved in the murder of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Musa, who was the police chief, said he personally briefed Abdullah on the allegations surrounding then deputy prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in the scandal.
"I briefed him. I said those involved were Abdul Razak Baginda and two police officers (who have since been convicted for the murder).
"Then, he asked if Najib was involved and I said 'no'. The investigations showed that Najib was not involved. That was what I told him," Musa said in an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini last week.
He also described claims that Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor was present at the murder site as untrue.
"There was no involvement, even the military was not involved in this. The only ones who did it (the murder) were the two police officers," Musa said.
He added that the briefing was given to Abdullah after police concluded their investigations and decided in early 2007 to charge Abdul Razak and the two police officers with the murder of Altantuya.
AG's Chambers officers present
Sources close to former solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden confirmed that he, along with Musa, did meet with Abdullah on the Altantuya murder sometime in 2007.
Yusof, when contacted by Malaysiakini , neither confirm or deny the meeting.
Altantuya was killed between Oct 18 and Oct 19, 2006, in a jungle clearing in Shah Alam. She had been shot and her body blown up with military-grade C4 explosives.
Aside from Abdul Razak, police officers Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, who were attached with the Special Operations Force (UTK or Unit Tindakan Khas) - an elite section of the police tasked with overt and covert operations, including providing security for VVIPs such as the prime minister - were put on trial for Altantuya's murder.
Azilah and Sirul were on April 9, 2009, found guilty by the High Court in Shah Alam and handed the death sentence . Abdul Razak, however, was cleared of any wrongdoing without his defence being called.
The appeal against conviction filed by Azilah and Sirul Azhar is scheduled to be heard in August this year.
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