Former Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigations Department (CID) chief Mat Zain Ibrahim is not cooperating with police in their probe on Umno-linked lawyer Mohd Shafee Abdullah over allegations that Shafee had given false statements in an affidavit, the government said today.

De facto law minister Nancy Shukri said in a written answer in Parliament that Mat Zain's statement has not been recorded to date in the probe which has dragged on for more than a year.

Mat Zain on Dec 15 last year  lodged a police report ( right ) against Shafee on the circumstances surrounding the affidavit the senior lawyer filed a week earlier with the Court of Appeal on Dec 15

The affidavit was submitted in reply to opposition leader Anwar' Ibrahims second application to disqualify Shafee from prosecuting him during the Sodomy II appeal. Anwar was subsequently convicted and jailed for sodomy.

Mat Zain’s police report had alleged that Shafee had falsified statements in the affidavit.

OTI challenged

Following this, an Order to Investigate (OTI) was issued against Shafee on January 4 last year by the Attorney-General's Chambers though Shafee stayed on as the government's lead prosecutor for Anwar’s sodomy trial.

"The police however did not get cooperation from Mat Zain to have his statement recorded," Nancy said.

She said that the police had issued a notice under Section 111 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) on Mat Zain in December last year.

"On March 18, Mat Zain was present at the Putrajaya district police headquarters but he challenged the OTI issued on Shafee.

“As a result, police have yet to record his statement," she said.