'I was given the green light by Najib to arrest Razak Baginda' - Musa Hassan

During the investigation into the murder of Mongolian woman, Altantuya Shaariibuu took place, the-then Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself had authorised the police to arrest the suspect, Abdul Razak Baginda.

Former Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan said, he was requested to deal with Najib by the then-Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, as Abdul Razak Baginda was at that time acted as Najib's advisor.

“When told about the matter, Najib himself had issued me the green light to detain Abdul Razak. He allowed the police to conduct its own investigation,” said Musa, during a press conference held here, today.

According to Musa, there should not be any hindrance for the police to reopen investigation paper on the Altantuya murder, should there be any new leads or information by any quarters.

“If there is a new lead, please lodge a police report. The police should reopen the probe, no issue at all.

“If one were to ask about the motive, Altantuya had earlier said that she had come to Malaysia to ask for her money but she was threatened and harrassed before she went missing,” said Musa when prodded about the case which involved two policemen.

Musa slammed certain quarters who had allegedly caused public confusion by spreading allegations without taking the proper legislation channel.

He was referring to a report by Al Jazeera’s current affairs show, 101 East which had claimed to have uncovered evidence on the Altantuya murder. Musa stressed that the documentary had earlier listed according to the chronology but the ending of the programme had been exaggerated.

Musa also criticised private investigator P Balasubramaniam’s action by volunteering information outside the court after being influenced by several quarters inclined towards giving unrecorded information.

This led to an official response from the Prime Minister’s Office stating that the allegations in the Al Jazeera report on the murder of Altantuya are intentionally misleading, and reiterated that there has never been any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the Prime Minister.

“I urge the public to seek the truth and to avoid spreading baseless information,” said Musa.