Shafee: They'll hang themselves by admitting Azilah-VVIP meeting

Muhammad Shafee Abdullah is not surprised the Prisons Department denied that convicted killer Azilah Hadri met with a VVIP outside of Kajang prison 10 months ago.

"Do you think they can ever admit?” he asked.

“They (will be) hanging themselves. Of course they (will) deny it," he told reporters when met at the Kuala Lumpur High Court this afternoon.

Shafee, who is former premier Najib Abdul Razak's lawyer, was commenting on the Prisons Department's denial that Azilah was brought out of prison to meet the high-profile individual in February.

The department said the former police special action force (UTK) officer last left prison in April 2015 to attend court proceedings.

Yesterday, Shafee claimed he had “very reliable information” that the meeting took place and is attempting to confirm it. However, he did not reveal the identity of this VVIP.

The lawyer was quizzed on this again today.

Asked if he could name the said VVIP or the exact date of the alleged meeting, he replied: "I cannot. We are working on it. I can't tell you more than that."

Azilah (photo) is currently seeking a review of the Federal Court's decision to reinstate his conviction and death sentence.

He also submitted a statutory declaration claiming he was instructed by Najib, who was the then deputy premier, to terminate Altantuya.

Azilah alleged that Najib and the latter's close associate Abdul Razak Baginda convinced him that the Mongolian national was a foreign spy who posed a threat to national security.

In 2015, the Federal Court overturned the Court of Appeal's decision to acquit Azilah and another former UTK personnel Sirul Azhar Umar's conviction.

However, Sirul had fled to Australia after his acquittal and is currently in an immigration detention centre in Sydney.

Razak Baginda was charged with abetting the pair but was later discharged.

Najib has denied Azilah's allegations, describing it as a complete fabrication and political plot to silence him.