Petra calls TV3's bluff, says 'now everyone is listening'

KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 14: Self-exiled blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin (right), who was interviewed last night by UMNO-owned television channel TV3, said the authorities could no longer brand him a "fugitive"



Petra also scoffed at critics who questioned why he allowed himself to be interviewed by TV3.

"Yes, TV3 gave me that opportunity to tell the story I have always told but no one appears to be listening. Suddenly everyone is listening, thanks to TV3.

"Sometimes we need a storm to get people’s attention. Maybe now the police will do what I have been asking them to do these last three years: that is, investigate my statutory declaration and ascertain the truth behind what Lt Kol Azmi Zainal Abidin alleged," said the plucky 61-year old who is a member of the Selangor royal family.

"I merely requested an investigation"

The murder trial concluded in 2009, with guilty verdict passed on two of the three men charged, both of whose facial identity had been carefully guarded from photographers. Najib's close aide Abdul Razak Baginda, who admitted to having a romantic affair with Altantuya, was however acquitted and had since left the country.

Since then, several allegations had been forwarded, including one by a witness in the trial, Razak's private detective P Balasubramaniam, who claimed that Razak had told him that he (Razak) and Najib had both had sexual trysts with Altantuya. Altantuya's murder, he said, was also linked to her request for her share of kickbacks amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars with regard to the government's controversial purchase of France's Scorpene submarines.

In the interview aired on TV3's news bulletin, however, Petra said he had merely asked the police to investigate allegations by several closely-connected sources that Najib Razak and Rosmah were involved in the murder. Petra explained that he had asked fellow blogger Din Merican (left) to ask Anwar whether the source of information, one Azmi Zainal Abidin described as "number two in the Special Branch", could be relied upon. Din had then told Petra that Anwar had trust in Azmi's intelligence.

He explained why he had made a statutory declaration dated June 18, 2008, the same which he had told online news portal Malaysiakini two years ago by revealing ‘his sources’ for his sensational allegation that Rosmah was at the crime scene, a forest clearing near Shah Alam, where remnants of Altantuya's body was found after being detonated.

While Petra said he had doubts about the story's credibility, he nevertheless reiterated calls for an investigation.“If the government owned mainstream media goes all the way to Australia to interview me, that means my status is no longer fugitive mah! Get it?

"We can handle the spinning. But they can no longer call me 'fugitive blogger'. So who wins?” asked Petra in an article he wrote on his Malaysia Today, following intense reactions over the internet about his purported 'U-turn' over allegations that the prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor had been personally involved in  the murder of Mongolian negotiator Altantuya Shariibuu in 2006.

TV3, in what it called an exclusive interview with Petra in Perth, Australia, had suggested that Petra had now admitted he had been wrong in accusing Rosmah of being involved in the murder.

"It can't be that the Prime Minister's wife would want to go to such place; it's a jungle. I'm imagining, climbing up the hill, going into the jungle at night, at 12 midnight, I think it's quite impossible.

"In my SD, I said that these people had told (me) and for these people to come forward and tell their stories, and for the authority to investigate and call these people.

"That is what I've written in the SD (statutory declaration). I've never raised any accusation. I didn't say I knew that the Prime Minister's wife was at the scene at that time," the transcript quoted him as saying.

Din confirms story

Several UMNO-controlled media had however claimed that Petra's latest statement was proof of his admission that Najib and Rosmah were innocent.

Hours later, Petra shot back, listing down four news articles from the media, telling readers to make comparisons to what he had actually said.

Meanwhile, Din Merican had issued a passionate denial on his blog, expressing surprise that his name was mentioned by Petra.

"I have no disagreements with Prime Minister Najib. Let me state that I am not anti-Najib; in fact, a number of commentators in my blog have severely criticised me for being 'soft' on our Prime Minister and his policies," said Din.

He however confirmed Petra's claim that he was asked to get clearance from Anwar about Azmi credibility.

"But it is a fact that Raja Petra called me to seek confirmation from Anwar Ibrahim regarding the reliability of a certain military intelligence officer. When I received confirmation from the PKR de facto leader, I relayed it to Raja Petra. That was all to the whole matter.

Malaysia Today