The department said Azilah had not been brought out of Kajang Prison throughout this year. File Photo
KUALA LUMPUR: The Prisons Department yesterday denied the claim that former Special Action Unit (UTK) member Azilah Hadri, convicted of the murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu, was taken out of prison to meet with a VVIP in February this year.
In a statement, the department said Azilah had not been brought out of Kajang Prison throughout this year.
The last occasion Azilah was taken out was on April 15, 2015, to attend trial at the Sepang Magistrate’s Court.
The department explained that this was done after the prison received an order from the court to produce Azilah, and it was in accordance with Section 30 of the Prison Act 1995.
Azilah has received 34 visits from family members and 15 visits from his lawyers at the prison over the past year, the department added.
It also stressed that statements issued by any party alleging that Azilah had been taken out of prison this year to meet with a VVIP were unequivocally false.
On Tuesday, lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah who is representing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, made the allegation.
On Dec 16, the local media published reports that Azilah, in a statutory declaration, had alleged that the order to kill Altantuya in 2006, had been issued by Najib who was the deputy prime minister at the time.
Azilah and former corporal Sirul Azhar Umar were convicted of the murder. — Bernama