Al Jazeera journalist dismisses Najib's claim she is victim of political propaganda

KUALA LUMPUR (March 2): The award-winning Al Jazeera journalist who interviewed Najib, causing him to lose his cool at questions related to Jho Low and 1MDB, has dismissed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's claim of her being a victim of political propaganda.

The Star reports that the journalist, Mary Ann Jolley said it is “ridiculous” for Najib to call questions about the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal propaganda. 

“This scandal is being investigated by more than six countries around the world, charges are being laid and in fact obviously the (former) prime minister is being charged in Malaysia,” she is reported as saying.

Jolley's televised interview with Najib ended with the former prime minister walking out upon being questioned about 1MDB and related matters.

At Najib's allegation that she is obsessed with the death of Mongolian translator Altantuyaa Shaariibuu, Jolley said that she is just doing her job, and that there are many questions about her murder.

“You also have Sirul in Australia. He was sending text messages back to Malaysia prior to being detained at Villawood Detention Centre (in Sydney).

“He basically wanted three million dollars to not bring down the prime minister, so Najib needs to answer this in order to clear up the allegations surrounding his involvement in Altantuyaa's murder,” she said to the publication.

Former police corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, along with Special Action Force officer Azilah Hadri had been sentenced to death in 2009 after being convicted for murdering Altantuyaa.

He fled to Australia, Interpol issued a red notice on him and then he was detained by Immigration authorities. He has been detained at Villawood since 2015, and is seeking asylum.

“It is not an obsession, it is just the fact that these questions are still unanswered and need to be answered,” she said.

Following Jolley's win at the 2019 UK Royal Television Society’s Television Journalism Awards' for Interview of the Year on Thursday, Najib took to Facebook to defend himself for walking out of the interview, saying that her questions had been political propaganda.

“I have no problems walking away from a foreign reporter as long as I do not walk away from my people. She has been influenced by elaborately crafted political propaganda by those who are in power today.

“Please tell her that her obsession has been proven unfounded as the police under the new government has found no evidence linking me to the Mongolian woman’s death. There is no cover-up,” Najib wrote.