A Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) Youth leader who made a statutory declaration (SD) that he was offered money to defect to Umno said he is not daunted by the police report lodged against him for alleged slander.

"As I said in my statutory declaration, I was paid RM25,000 to join Umno and I know that they too (those who lodged the report) were paid. I stand by my declaration and am prepared to fight all the way.

"I am not afraid to be investigated and have no qualms in co-operating with the police. All they (the police) have to do to contact me is to call the Keadilan headquarters. I am ready for them," stressed Zool Hilmi Yahya when contacted today.

Yesterday, it was reported that three former Keadilan leaders Muhammad Zahid Mohamed Arip, Hamdan Taha and Hanafiah Man lodged a police report claiming that Zool Hilmi had wrongly accused them of receiving money to join Umno.

The three were among 12 Keadilan leaders who had recently joined the ruling party.

Discrepancies

Contacted later, Hamdan said the police report was based on Zool Hilmi's declaration and a report published in malaysiakini on Feb 11.

He noted several discrepancies in the declaration and the report, including the time of the meeting between the Keadilan leaders and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak as well as the amount of money involved.

"In his declaration Zool Hilmi put the time of meeting at 9pm but the news report quoted him as saying that it was at 7pm. Similarly, the declaration put the monetary offer at RM25,000 while the news report put the amount at RM500,000. So all these contradictions prove that he is lying," he said.

Responding to this, Zool Hilmi claimed that he did not issue any official statements on the matter apart from what is contained in the declaration and what he told a media conference on Feb 11 at the Keadilan headquarters in Shah Alam.

"In that press conference, I distributed my declaration and statements made were based only on the document. I am only responsible for the statements that I made in the declaration and nothing else," added the Perak-based leader.

'Stacks of money'

In his declaration, Zool Hilmi said he went to Najib's house in Kuala Lumpur at 9pm on Feb10, with a group of Keadilan leaders including Hamdan, Muhammad Zahid, Hanafiah and Negri Sembilan chief Ruslan Kassim to discuss their intention to join Umno.

He added that the meeting ended at 11pm and as he was leaving the deputy premier's house, two men referred to only as 'Datuk' handed him about RM1,000.

Later at the hotel where he was staying with the other Keadilan leaders, Zool Hilmi claimed that he was given several stacks of RM100 notes.

"I did not count the money but Hamdan told me that it amounted to RM25,000. I put all the money in a safe box in the room.

"Hamdan assured me that I did not have to return to Perak. They would find jobs for my wife and I. They will also ensure that all our needs are taken care of," he said in the declaration.

In a related development, Keadilan said it will lodge a report on the issue with the Election Commission tomorrow.

"Since the allegation exposes the practice of money politics and bribery, we will lodge the report with the commission at its Selangor office," said its Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor in a statement.

He also welcomed the police report lodged against Zool Hilmi and urged the police to be fair in their investigations.