MILITARY veterans have lashed out at Najib Razak for “making a mockery” of the “sumpah laknat”, a religious Islamic oath, to deny allegations that he was behind the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

In a strongly worded statement today, Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan (Patriot) said it was “disgusted” by the antics of the former prime minister as murder allegations are a serious matter.

It was reported that after Friday prayers today, Najib will undertake a sumpah laknat to declare his innocence after convicted killer Azilah Hadri had, in a statutory declaration, accused the former of giving the “shoot to kill” order.

Former police commando Azilah and his colleague, Sirul Azhar Umar, were sentenced to death for Altantuya’s murder.

Patriot president brigadier-general (rtd) Mohamed Arshad Raji said Najib cannot trivialise the matter like a chicken or a goat gone missing in a village and settle the matter with a “sumpah”.

“If an alleged serious crime such as murder can be settled with a mere sumpah, then any perpetrator of serious crimes, including embezzlement and white collar crimes in high office, can also get away with a sumpah, too.

“Patriot is puzzled as to why the muftis and those in the religious department have not put a stop to Najib’s antics, which clearly makes a mockery of the religion.”

Najib is expected to undertake his sumpah laknat at Masjid Jamek in Kg Baru, Kuala Lumpur, today.

According to Malay Mail Online, sumpah laknat literally means “curse swear”, and is an oath a Muslim makes to God, asking for divine retribution in the form of a curse against the other party if the latter is lying.

It is also not officially recognised in Malaysian shariah law, which is administered separately by each state, the news portal reported.

Sumpah laknat differs from oaths undertaken in shariah courts, usually in cases of family or inheritance disputes, where one swears by the name of God over their statement.

Meanwhile, Arshad said that the US Department of Justice (DoJ) had identified Najib as being Malaysia Official No. 1 (MO1).

“The US DoJ and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have now named former prime minister Najib as a recipient of kickbacks from bonds raised for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

“Besides Najib, the SEC also mentioned there were other government officials and their families in Malaysia who received kickbacks from the more than US$2.7 billion (in 1MDB funds).

“The people want to know who those other officials and their families are, who are involved in this most repugnant and repulsive of schemes,” Arshad said.

The US regulator, in a filing on Wednesday, had named Najib as a recipient of kickbacks dished out for bonds raised by US banking giant Goldman Sachs.

The filing stated that, besides the millions of dollars transferred to shell companies controlled by 1MDB officials, a sum of US$1.3 million was used to pay a New York jeweller for jewellery bought by Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Arshad said Patriot supported Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Latheefa Koya, who earlier this week announced that she wanted to reopen some high-profile cases that had been put in cold storage.

“The MACC must show that it is above board and its actions are independent of the executive.

“A clear message must be sent that we have zero tolerance for corruption,” the Patriot chief added. – December 20, 2019.