KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Friday dismissed an allegation by Sarawak Report website that the former attorney-general was sacked as he was in the midst of preparing a charge sheet against Prime Minister Najib Razak.
"I officially deny...there was an arrest document or warrant or summon for our honourable Prime Minister,'' he said at a news conference.
He said the report on the website is an "evil report" meant to create negative perception of Najib. Follow-up actions will be taken by Malaysia's head of police, he added.
His comments come after the website claimed that Abdul Gani Patail was sacked as Attorney-General on Tuesday because he wanted to take action against Najib.
It claimed to have obtained a copy of corruption charges that were in the final stages of being drafted by Abdul Gani against Najib and one other person connected to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy.
It published closed up pictures of papers that it claimed was a draft charge sheet against Najib and a director of a former 1MDB subsidiary, SRC International.
When asked whether the former AG will be called up for questioning to verify allegations in Sarawak Report, Inspector-General of police Khalid Abu Bakar said no.
"In my view, there is no need. There is no reason to, " he said.
Newly appointed AG Mohamed Apandi Ali had also dismisssed the report.
"The alleged charge sheets are not in and never reached the Attorney-General's Chambers. Furthermore, the format of the sheets is not correct or written by our Chambers," he said in a statement.
He added that the alleged charge papers indicate that there was a conspiracy to topple a serving Prime Minister by criminalising him, and that the methods include doctoring and criminal leakage.
"This plot represents a threat to Malaysia's democracy and I will direct for all action possible to be taken to investigate. The full force of the law will be applied without exception to any that are found guilty," he said.
The allegation by Sarawak Report comes after the Wall Street Journal reported on July 3 that US$700million (S$962 million) in state funds was transferred from 1MDB to Najib's personal accounts.
The Malaysian leader has maintained that he has never used state funds for his personal gain.
