Speaking to USA TODAY, a close friend of Zaharie, Peter Chong, said Zaharie does support the opposition but that the reports that he may have had a role in diverting the plane were “not true.”
“He is a political activist, yes. And yes, he was in court for Anwar’s trial and he is our strong supporter, but that does not make him a terrorist,” Chong said.
The scrutiny follows revelations Saturday that someone aboard the jet made a series of highly technical actions to deliberately hide the plane from modern detection systems. Prime Minister Najib Razak said the path of the flight, missing since March 8, was altered shortly after takeoff. The last known signal from the airliner came more than seven hours after takeoff.
Nirmala Nadarajah, a former Malaysian Airlines flight attendant, defended Zaharie, whom she described as a “good, kind man.”
He loved flying. That is his biggest passion. And he was always caring. He was always concerned about being alert and fit because he considered the safety of his passengers seriously,” she said. “This investigation is utter rubbish. He would never ever have hijacked the plane.”
The pilot isn’t the only person aboard the plane facing intensified scrutiny. Hishammuddin, also the acting transportation minister, said officers visited the home of the co-pilot and were investigating the engineers who worked on the plane.