KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — The authorities are striking back.
A day after the country’s top military intelligence official denied the existence of a report allegedly detailing Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s link with the murder of a Mongolian model, the police have summoned a prominent blogger for questioning.
Raja Petra Kamarudin has been asked to show up at the Sentul police station this evening to have his statement recorded.
In late June, he swore a statutory declaration alleging that the deputy prime minister’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, was among three individuals who were present when Altantuya Shariibuu was murdered on Oct 19, 2006.
He also alleged that the military intelligence prepared a report on the matter and handed it to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who subsequently handed it over to his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin.
Abdullah, Najib, Khairy and Rosmah dismissed the allegations and several police reports were lodged against Raja Petra, who operates the Malaysia Today website. Umno officials said that the statutory declaration was aimed at driving a wedge between the country’s top two leaders, and creating suspicion between their supporters.
Initially, the DPM appeared prepared to ignore Raja Petra’s allegation, believing that any engagement on this statutory declaration will only give the blogger more credibility. Rosmah also said that she was innocent but did not want to take action.
But that approach changed when silence did not end the swirling speculation over the statutory declaration.
On Friday, Military Intelligence director-general Lt-Jen Datuk Mohd Salleh Ismail denied the existence of any military intelligence report on the Altantuya murder case.
“This is strictly a matter for the police as it is a criminal case. I wish to reiterate that the statutory declaration made by Raja Petra Kamarudin on a military intelligence report is not true, ‘’ he said.
This is not the first time that the blogger has had a date with the police. He was charged with sedition in May for implying in an article that Najib and his wife were involved in the murder of Altantuya.
The trial is set for October.
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