KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s plan to swear a religious oath to insist he did not order the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu could be countered if his accuser also did so, Lim Kit Siang pointed out today.

Yesterday, Najib said he will perform the sumpah laknat tomorrow to deny former police commando Azilah Hadri’s statutory declaration that the ex-prime minister told him directly to kill the Mongolian in 2006.

"Whose sumpah laknat will prevail if Azilah is to take a sumpah laknat in Kajang Prison to reaffirm that his statutory declaration (SD) is correct and true?” Lim said in a statement today.

The sumpah laknat is a religious oath that Muslims perform to depict innocence, in which they deny the allegations against them while simultaneously seeking divine retribution on their accusers.

It has no legal significance here and its function is limited to affecting public opinion.

Lim cited Amanah’s Hanipa Maidin who said Najib would be better served by suing Azilah for defamation, and agreed with his Pakatan Harapan ally.

Azilah made a statutory declaration that was released this week in support of his application for a review of the Federal Court’s 2015 decision to uphold his conviction.

In 2009, Azilah and another ex-commando, Sirul Azhar Umar, were found guilty of murdering Altantuya in 2006 but were released in 2013 on appeal.

Sirul, who fled to Australia prior to the 2015 Federal Court ruling, previously dangled a "tell-all” in return for a review of his death sentence but the government rejected this.

Najib has been circumstantially linked to the case before but there had been no direct connection until Azilah’s controversial claim.