Raja Petra Kamarudin
I am now facing one sedition charge and three criminal defamation charges. They say Muslims are allowed four and I have just reached my limit of four. Nevertheless, my great-grandfather, Sultan Ala’eddin Suleiman Shah, the Fifth Sultan of Selangor, had ten wives. He also had 44 children from these ten wives, my grandmother, Tengku Badariah, being one of those 44. Needless to say, with the track record set by my great-grandfather, would I be satisfied with stopping at just four? Certainly not! And, today, I am going to chalk up my fifth ‘criminal charge’, whatever that charge is going to be.
Today, in the spirit of my fifth criminal charge, I am going to make another ‘seditious’ or ‘criminal defamation’ allegation against Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, in the spirit of what Anwar Ibrahim said to CNN last week (see the CNN report here: http://72.47.236.85/2008/content/view/10077/1/ ). And this allegation is that Najib met Saiful to discuss the sodomy allegation against Anwar and for no other reason other than that -- and certainly not to discuss the young man’s future career or scholarship.
This time I am going for broke. This time I am prepared to go to jail for a long, long time just to make sure that Najib is not going to become Prime Minister of Malaysia in June 2010. Yes, I know I am headed for a fall, but I am going to bring Najib down with me. We shall both hit the dirt and become history, side-by-side.
And how will that happen? Well, this time I video-recorded a ‘confession’ session. And the video recording is now in a safe place, ready to surface during my trial when they charge me for this newest ‘crime’, whatever that crime is going to be.
The gist is as follows. When Saiful went to meet Najib, he brought a friend along. And this friend has confessed to the entire thing in a video recording, which I now have in my possession. So bring it on. Give me all you’ve got. Charge me and let us see what happens in court.
Yes, Najib met Saiful to discuss how to fix Anwar on a sodomy allegation. No doubt, at first Najib denied all this. At first he said he never met Saiful, not even once in his life. Then he admitted meeting Saiful but said he met Saiful to offer the young man ‘career guidance’ and to discuss his future, scholarship, and all such matters. The first statement was a lie. The second was also a lie. Najib met Saiful to discuss the sodomy allegation against Anwar.
If Najib can lie so many times with regards to his meeting with Saiful, would he not also be capable of lying about never meeting or knowing Altantuya? What would Najib say if during my trial I adduce a military intelligence report dated when Altantuya was still alive which confirms that he was involved romantically (or ‘involved sexually’ would probably be the more appropriate word to use) with Altantuya?
Sure, charge me. Put me on trial. Even obtain a conviction and send me to jail if you wish. Hey, I am 58. By the time I go to jail I would probably be 60, if I happen to still be around and not already dead by then. So, you can send me to jail, but for how long? What difference does it make when I am no longer alive anyway? And I really don’t expect to live to a ripe old age of 83 like Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Najib, however, will never become Prime Minister in June 2010. And that is worth going to jail for, however long the sentence may be.
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“What questions are you going to ask me?”
“No questions. We will not treat this as an interview. You just relax and relate what happened, like a story-telling session, and then I will video-record everything you say.”
“What exactly do you need me to say?”
“I suppose you can just relate how you first met Saiful, how he came to be employed by Parti Keadilan Rakyat, what he did in the office, and anything else you know about his allegation that Anwar sodomised him. The best thing is for you to relax and speak naturally, like you are telling a story, no questions and answers session which will make you stiff and not look natural.”
“Okay, if I make any mistake you will edit the tape?”
“No, we will not edit anything. That will tantamount to tampering with the evidence. Never mind if you make a mistake. Just repeat what you said or start over again. This video recording is not for broadcasting. This is for internal use only. We shall keep the recording in a safe place in case the police arrest you and force you to make a statement against your will. Then, if the police charge you for anything, we will be reveal this tape to prove that what you told the police under duress is different from what you said tonight. That is why you must speak naturally and not look stiff or like you are being forced to say whatever you are going to saying. This video recording is for your protection to ensure that they will not arrest you and force you to make any statement that is not true.”
“Okay.”
“Let me know when you are ready. Drink some water to clear your throat and finish your cigarette first. Then we will start. Be comfortable and don’t worry. No need to even look at the camera if that makes you uncomfortable. Speak to me. Look at me and talk. It is easier when you speak to a person than to the camera.”
Sessions starts and he relates his story. After 15 minutes he gestures for the camera to be switched off and I oblige.
“I am not sure whether I want this next part recorded on camera.”
“Never mind. We can record it anyway and then if you feel it is damaging it need never surface.”
“I would rather get my lawyer’s advice first before this second part is recorded because it implicates Najib in the sodomy allegation against Anwar.”
“Okay, we can leave the camera off and you can relate the second part off-camera. Then we decide later if it should be recorded or not.”
“This second part is about our meeting with Najib.”
“Oh, you also went to see Najib?”
“Actually, I did not know why we were going to see Najib. Saiful just said that he wanted to go and see Najib and he wanted me to follow him. So I followed him. I was present when Saiful discussed with Najib about the sodomy allegation against Anwar. I did not know he was going to see Najib about that.”
“You did not know he was going to see Najib about the sodomy allegation?”
“No, he did not tell me.”
“Was it staged?”
“Staged?”
“Yes, did Najib already know what Saiful was seeing him about or did Najib not know beforehand?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Najib appear shocked or surprised or did he look like he already knew what they were going to talk about?”
“Najib looked very natural.”
“So Najib did not look shocked or surprised?”
“No.”
“So, from Najib’s reaction, he appeared like he already knew what they were going to discuss. Only you did not know. What about the other people in the room?”
“They also did not look surprised.”
“So it appeared like everyone in the room, except you, already knew what Saiful was going to talk to Najib about.”
“Maybe.”
“But why go to Najib to talk about this? Why not go to the police or the religious department?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Najib offer any advice?”
“No.”
“Did Najib ask Saiful to make a police report?”
“No, he just listened.”
“Did Najib ask Saiful: ‘why come to me to complain? What has Anwar sodomising you got to do with the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia’?”
“No.”
“Do you think that maybe all this was a show just for your benefit? The fact that everyone appeared to already know what the discussion was all about, except you, appears like they wanted you, an ‘outsider’, to hear the discussion.”
“I am not sure.”
“Before the visit to Najib’s office, has Saiful ever told you or anyone else in the office that Anwar sodomised him?”
“No.”
“So the first time you heard of this was when Saiful brought you to meet Najib.”
“Yes.”
“Did Saiful discuss anything else with Najib like a scholarship or something like that?”
“No.”
“They just discussed the sodomy matter?”
“Yes.”
“Why not I video-record this part?”
“Let me discuss it with the lawyer first. If the lawyer says it is okay then we can record it tomorrow.”
“Okay, I will not force you. I don’t want you to tell anyone later that you were reluctant to let me video-record this part but I forced you to do so against your will. You speak to your lawyer first and then we can meet again tomorrow and record this part of your statement.”
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