Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak cannot rely on the explanations of fellow minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz alone on claims that RM9.5 million was paid to a senior lawyer who acted as prosecutor in the Sodomy II case, said PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Wan Azizah said Najib and the senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah must come clean on their own.

"It is regretful that to date, Najib and Shafee has yet to respond to the allegations. Malaysians have only heard the trivial excuse by Nazri which is inadequate.

"The crux of the issue has yet to be addressed, namely, why did Najib receive funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd in his personal bank accounts and why was RM9.5 million (allegedly) transferred to Muhammad Shafee's personal bank account?" she said in a statement today.

Yesterday, Mohamed Nazri rubbished the allegation made by Sarawak Report and said that even if Muhammad Shafee did receive money from Najib, it had no bearing on Sodomy II.

Muhammad Shafee had acted as prosecutor in Sodomy II when the matter was brought to the Court of Appeal and Federal Court, which saw PKR de facto Anwar Ibrahim being found guilty and sentenced to five years in jail.

Parliament was told in 2015 that Muhammad Shafee was paid merely RM1,000 for his services as prosecutor.

Exploring legal options

However, whistleblower website Sarawak Report had claimed that they have seen documents from investigators which claimed that Najib paid the money using funds he received from state-owned SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.

Following this, a Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia representative lodged a police report to demand investigations on the veracity of the website's claims.

Malaysiakini cannot independently verify Sarawak Report's allegation or ascertain if the alleged payment was related to Shafee's role in Anwar's case.

Malaysiakini has repeatedly contacted Shafee for comment but has not received a response. The news portal has also contacted the prime minister's press aide Tengku Sharifuddin Tengku Ahmad over the matter.

Wan Azizah said if the duo did not come clean, questions on whether the money had anything to do with the Sodomy II case would linger on.

She added that it also raises questions on whether anti-money laundering laws were violated.

"Therefore, Pakatan Harapan leaders and I will discuss this at the Harapan presidential council meeting on June 9, including the possible legal action that can be initiated to uncover the truth," she said.

A document held up by attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali at a press conference in January last year showed at least RM32 million went into the prime minister's personal bank accounts from SRC International.

Apandi cleared Najib of wrongdoing on the grounds that the prime minister was not aware of receiving the money.

Najib had denied taking public funds for personal gain.